I bet when you think of a garbage dump a picture of a big pile of junk in a spacious field pops to mind. It turns out that garbage is not only piling up on land but in the sea too.
The Pacific Ocean is home to thousands of sea species as well as some of the most ferocious storms and currents on our planet. It is also home to two swirling locations where garbage continues to collect, a lot of garbage. These areas, (roughly located on either side of Hawaii) are referred to as The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Each so called "patch" is estimated to be the size of Texas. Yes, as in our US of A Texas!
(Trying to picture a floating pile of garbage as big as Texas is way beyond me. It hurts trying to imagine this.)
(Trying to picture a floating pile of garbage as big as Texas is way beyond me. It hurts trying to imagine this.)
These floating garbage piles are officially the world's largest with millions of tons of junk between them- more than two Texas-sized states. Now, you may think "Hey what's the big deal" the ocean is huge and the junk is well out of sight and smell. Sadly, this has been the feeling many governments have held for over a decade. Ignoring the problem hasn't made is go away.
The truth is that these monstrous garbage spots are creating problems for sea life, which may come back to hurt each of us. Plastic bottles and especially plastic bags eventually break into smaller pieces. The combination of churning water, feeding plankton, and the sun mash up the plastic into fairly small plastic balls called nurdles.
Nurdles alone are not a problem (not that we want the ocean bottom covered in small plastic balls). The worry is that these are being eaten by smaller sea life such as plankton. (Thank you Sponge Bob for helping children around the world know the importance of plankton ;) So as more plastic is eaten by plankton it passes on to the sea life that feeds on them. It is very possible that plastic will come back to shore as part of the very fish we pull from the sea to eat! It won't be long before a waiter asks, "Excuse me sir, but would you like more fish with your plastic?"
Keep informed so you can gently guide others. Check out the website Howstuffworks.com for more information on this topic. For even more in depth reading on the subject locate a copy of The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
The truth is that these monstrous garbage spots are creating problems for sea life, which may come back to hurt each of us. Plastic bottles and especially plastic bags eventually break into smaller pieces. The combination of churning water, feeding plankton, and the sun mash up the plastic into fairly small plastic balls called nurdles.
Nurdles alone are not a problem (not that we want the ocean bottom covered in small plastic balls). The worry is that these are being eaten by smaller sea life such as plankton. (Thank you Sponge Bob for helping children around the world know the importance of plankton ;) So as more plastic is eaten by plankton it passes on to the sea life that feeds on them. It is very possible that plastic will come back to shore as part of the very fish we pull from the sea to eat! It won't be long before a waiter asks, "Excuse me sir, but would you like more fish with your plastic?"
Keep informed so you can gently guide others. Check out the website Howstuffworks.com for more information on this topic. For even more in depth reading on the subject locate a copy of The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
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