A floating rubbish dump in the Pacific Ocean is growing rapidly and now covers an area about twice the size of the continental U.S.
The "plastic soup" is the world's largest rubbish dump. It is held in place by the swirling underwater currents of the North Pacific gyre- a vortex where the ocean circulates slowly because of little wind and extreme high pressure systems. The "drifting soup" stretches 500 nautical miles off of the California coast, across the Northern Pacific past Hawaii and almost reaching Japan.
The floating rubbish dump was found by Charles Moore, an American oceanographer who came across it accidentally while sailing. He believes that 100 million tons of flotsam are circulating in the region. Marcus Eriksen, research director of the U.S. Based Algalita Marine Research Foundation, which Moore founded, said "The original idea that people had was that it was an island of plastic garbage that you could almost walk on. It is not quite like that. It is almost like a plastic soup. It is endless for an area that is maybe twice the size as continental United States."
The "soup" is divided into to links occupying both sides of Hawaii; the West and Eastern Pacific garbage patches. About 1/5 of the junk is thrown off of ships or oil platforms, the rest comes from land.
Mr. Moore is an heir to a family fortune from the oil industry who sold his business profits to become an environmental activist. He warns that unless consumers cut back on their use of disposable plastics the dump will double in size during the next decade.
Professor David Karl, oceanographer at the University of Hawaii said more research was needed to understand the size and destruction of this floating soup but said there was "no reason to doubt" Algalita's findings.
Professor Karl will be working with Algalita to research the dump later this year and believes the rubbish represents a new habitat. In the past, plastic was able to decompose in the ocean but today's plastic products are so durable that items from half a century ago have been found in the sea. Because the sea of rubbish is translucent and lies just below the ocean's surface, it is impossible to spot from satellites.
According to the UN Environment Programme, plastic debris causes death to more than a million sea birds every year, as well as more than 100,000 marine animals. About 90% of all rubbish in the sea is believed to be plastics. The UN Environment Programme also estimated in 2006 that every square mile of ocean contains 46,000 pieces of floating plastic.
The floating mass of rubbing poses a risk to human health as well. Hundreds of millions of plastic pellets are lost or spilled each year, working their way into the sea. The pollutants act as chemical sponges, soaking up any man made chemicals like hydrocarbons and the pesticide DDT. Then they enter the food chain. "What goes into the ocean goes into these animals and onto your dinner plate. It's that simple," said Dr Eriksen.
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This post was written by Christine Pinella on May 1, 2008