home Russian citizenship Where does trash in the ocean come from and how to deal with it. Giant Garbage Island of the Pacific Ocean

Where does trash in the ocean come from and how to deal with it. Giant Garbage Island of the Pacific Ocean

“Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, “Pacific Trash Vortex”, “Pacific Garbage Island”, as they call this giant island of garbage, which is growing at a gigantic pace.

There has been talk about garbage island for more than half a century, but virtually no action has been taken.

Meanwhile, irreparable damage is being caused to the environment, and entire species of animals are becoming extinct. There is a high probability that a moment will come when nothing can be fixed.

Pollution started from the time plastic was invented. On the one hand, it is an irreplaceable thing that has made people's lives incredibly easier. Made it easier until the plastic product is thrown away: plastic takes more than a hundred years to decompose. Slowly decomposing, plastic causes serious harm to the environment. Birds, fish (and other ocean creatures) suffer the most.

Plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean is responsible for the death of more than a million seabirds a year, as well as more than 100 thousand marine mammals. Syringes, lighters and toothbrushes are found in the stomachs of dead seabirds - birds swallow all these objects, mistaking them for food.

American oceanographer Charles Moore, the discoverer of this “great Pacific garbage patch,” also known as the “garbage gyre,” believes that about 100 million tons of floating trash are circling in this region. Marcus Eriksen, director of science at the Algalita Marine Research Foundation (USA), founded by Moore, said: “Initially people assumed it was an island of plastic waste that you could almost walk on. This view is inaccurate. The consistency of the stain is very similar to plastic soup. It’s simply endless—perhaps twice the size of the continental United States.”

The story of Moore's discovery of the garbage patch is quite interesting:
14 years ago, a young playboy and yachtsman, Charles Moore, the son of a wealthy chemical magnate, decided to relax in the Hawaiian Islands after a session at the University of California. At the same time, Charles decided to test his new yacht in the ocean. To save time, I swam straight ahead. A few days later, Charles realized that he had sailed into the trash heap.

In general, they try to “ignore” the problem. The landfill does not look like an ordinary island; fragments of plastic float in the water at a depth of one to hundreds of meters. In addition, more than 70 percent of all plastic that gets here ends up in the bottom layers, so we don’t even know exactly how much trash can accumulate there. Since plastic is transparent and lies directly below the surface of the water, the “polyethylene sea” cannot be seen from a satellite. Debris can only be seen from the bow of a ship or when scuba diving.

The North Pacific Gyre is neutral waters, and all the garbage that floats here is no one's.

The slowly circulating mass of water, replete with debris, poses a danger to human health. Hundreds of millions of tiny plastic pellets - the raw material of the plastics industry - are lost every year and eventually end up in the sea. They pollute the environment by acting as chemical sponges that attract man-made chemicals such as hydrocarbons and the pesticide DDT. This dirt then enters the stomachs along with food. “What ends up in the ocean ends up in the stomachs of ocean creatures and then on your plate.

Clogging of water bodies with human waste is one of the pressing problems of our time. Some of the garbage decomposes over time, but a considerable amount of it settles to the bottom or remains floating on the water surface, causing enormous damage to the environment.

Huge accumulations of garbage, resembling islands or even entire continents in size, are often found in the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans. Researchers of this phenomenon compare it to a “garbage soup”: some of the waste does not sink, but floats on the surface or in the water column – and such “spots” of garbage stretch for many kilometers.

Where does such a large amount of human waste come from in the ocean?

First of all, this is what is thrown into the water by residents and guests of cities located in close proximity to the seas.

For example, environmentalists call India, Thailand and China the leaders in polluting water with garbage, where dumping everything unnecessary into rivers and seas is considered practically the norm.

Tourists vacationing on warm sea coasts around the world usually litter especially actively and thoughtlessly. They release cigarette butts, plastic bottles and cans from various drinks, glasses, corks, plastic bags, disposable tableware, cocktail straws and other household waste into the water.

But that's not all. Let's remember school lessons. Rivers flow into the seas, the seas are part of the oceanic waters, which make up more than 95% of the entire water shell of the Earth - the hydrosphere. Thus, most of the garbage thrown into rivers, carried by currents, will also end up in the ocean.

According to scientists, about 80% of the volume of this gigantic water dump comes from the ground. And only the remaining 20% is the waste of “marine” human activity:

torn fishing nets;
waste from floating oil drilling rigs;
garbage that is thrown from ships, etc.

All this rubbish that ends up in the ocean floats with the current and finally accumulates in certain “quiet” places, where it forms entire “floating landfills” on the waves.

Pacific Garbage Gutter

The world's largest water dump is located in the North Pacific Ocean. It is there that ocean currents form a kind of funnel into which debris is pulled.

The result is a real “dead sea” of rotting waste, marine flora, corpses of aquatic inhabitants, and shipwrecks. And since the mid-twentieth century, floating remains of plastic have rapidly begun to accumulate here, which naturally decomposes over several hundred years.

“Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, “Pacific Garbage Island”, “Garbage Iceberg” - as they call this huge accumulation of floating waste and garbage, located between Hawaii and California, in the media.

The exact dimensions are still not known. According to rough estimates, its weight can be more than 3.5 million tons with an occupied area of 10 million square kilometers or more.

According to its structure, the “garbage iceberg” is divided into two large parts - Western (closer to the shores of Japan and China) and Eastern (near California and Hawaii).

Facts about Garbage Island in the Pacific Ocean:

Even before its actual discovery, its existence was announced in 1988 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. Such conclusions were made by scientists based on observations of the oceans, the movement of waste accumulations in them, as well as the nature of currents.
The “garbage channel” was officially discovered in 1997 by Captain Charles Moore: while traveling on a yacht, he found himself in a part of the body of water covered for many miles with garbage floating on the surface. The discovery amazed Moore so much that he wrote several articles about it, which attracted the attention of the whole world to the problem. He subsequently became the founder of an environmental organization for ocean research.
About 70% of waste sinks, so the so-called “garbage soup”, which occupies a huge area on the surface of the water, is only one third of the total volume of the “world’s water dump”.
Plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean kills more than a million seabirds and aquatic mammals every year.
There are forecasts that promise a doubling of the scale of the “continent of waste” in just ten years if humanity does not reduce the volume of plastic products consumed (and thrown away).

The production of plastic products in the world is still growing steadily every year. Accordingly, an increasing amount of it ends up in natural reservoirs.

For details about the Pacific Garbage Gutter, watch the video:

The dangers and consequences of ocean water pollution

The damage that garbage islands cause to the environment, and ultimately to the lives and health of people themselves, is simply colossal:

In vast areas of the ocean, sunlight does not penetrate through the waste-polluted water columns. As a result, algae and plankton die in these areas, which in turn provide food for the inhabitants of the depths. Lack of nutrition can lead to their extinction and further complete disappearance.
The bulk of garbage is all kinds of plastic. The period of its complete natural decomposition in the natural environment, according to ecologists, can range from 100 to 500 years. That is, at the moment this entire mass is not decreasing, but is only increasing due to daily new arrivals.
When exposed to the sun, plastic gradually breaks down into small granules that can absorb toxins from the environment, turning into real poison.
Plastic particles are consumed by animals as food. This happens because its pieces are overgrown with algae, and the small granules look like eggs and the same plankton. Often, plastic eaten by birds and fish causes their death. Even if the animal survives, in any case it receives chronic poisoning with harmful substances that cause diseases and mutations.
The waste covering the bottom of the oceans destroys the habitat of the inhabitants of the deep.

The laws of the food chain are inexorable and fair: as a result, poisons from plastic inevitably affect commercial fish species, and through them cause harm to human health.

Note! Ocean Trash Facts:

scientists believe that by 2050, plastic will be ingested by almost all birds and marine life without exception;
about 40% of albatrosses die precisely because of pecking on plastic as food;
about 9% of fish have plastic residues in their stomachs, and according to scientists, in general, fish eat up to 20 tons of waste polymers per year.

If you combine all the “garbage spots” into one, you will get an area larger than the United States of America. And so far, every year this “water dump” only expands its borders.

How to deal with the problem?

It would seem obvious that the problem of waste in the seas and oceans needs to be solved by the whole world and as soon as possible! But so far no one is actually doing this. Garbage accumulates in international waters, and none of the countries wants to take responsibility, and most importantly, bear the financial costs associated with solving this problem.

But it is worth noting that these expenses are unlikely to be within the budget of one, even a developed, country - the amount of garbage accumulated in the oceans is too large.

The solution proposed by environmentalists may sound categorical, but reasonable. In their opinion, humanity as a whole needs to, if not completely abandon plastic and polyethylene, then at least reduce its production and consumption to the bare minimum.

Also a serious step in solving the problem is the need for environmentally friendly recycling of plastic waste.

Important! Of course, each of us individually is not able to solve the problem of plastic pollution in full, but each of us can make our personal contribution to the protection of natural resources:

reduce the amount of plastic and polyethylene used, giving preference to containers and packaging made from natural materials: fabric and paper bags and bags, wooden and cardboard boxes, etc.;
Under no circumstances should you throw items made of any type of plastic into water, on the ground, or even into the general mass of garbage, but store them in special containers marked “for plastic” or take them to recycling collection points for subsequent processing and disposal.

Will people listen to the calls of environmentalists, or is humanity destined to perish from the waste of its own life and its own frivolity? So far, the problem of “garbage spots” on the Earth’s waters remains as acute as it was five and ten years ago. Individual attempts by enthusiasts to deal with garbage in the ocean are just a drop in the ocean; solving this problem requires enormous funds and considerable effort.

“Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, “Pacific Trash Vortex”, “North Pacific Gyre”, “Pacific Garbage Island”, whatever they call this giant island of garbage, which is growing at a gigantic pace. There has been talk about garbage island for more than half a century, but virtually no action has been taken. Meanwhile, irreparable damage is being caused to the environment, and entire species of animals are becoming extinct. There is a high probability that a moment will come when nothing can be corrected.

Pollution started from the time plastic was invented. On the one hand, it is an irreplaceable thing that has made people's lives incredibly easier. It makes it easier until the plastic product is thrown away: plastic takes more than a hundred years to decompose, and thanks to ocean currents it gathers into huge islands. One such island, larger than the US state of Texas, floats between California, Hawaii and Alaska - millions of tons of garbage. The island is growing rapidly, with ~2.5 million pieces of plastic and other debris being dumped into the ocean every day from all continents. Slowly decomposing, plastic causes serious harm to the environment. About 44% of all seabirds ingest plastic, mistaking it for food, often with fatal consequences. Some 267 species of marine animals ingest plastic bags that resemble jellyfish. Many species of fish eat small particles of plastic, confusing it with plankton.

"Trash Island" has been growing rapidly since about the 1950s due to the characteristics of the North Pacific Current system, the center of which, where all the garbage ends up, is relatively stationary. According to scientists, the current mass of the garbage island is more than three and a half million tons, and its area is more than a million square kilometers. “The Island” has a number of unofficial names: “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, “Eastern Garbage Patch”, “Pacific Trash Vortex”, etc. In Russian it is sometimes called also a "garbage iceberg".

This huge pile of floating garbage - in fact the largest landfill on the planet - is held in one place by the influence of underwater currents that have turbulence. The swath of "soup" stretches from a point about 500 nautical miles off the California coast, across the North Pacific Ocean, past Hawaii and just shy of distant Japan.

The main ocean polluters are China and India. Here it is considered common practice to throw garbage directly into a nearby body of water.

The existence of the Great Garbage Patch was predicted by many climatologists and oceanographers. However, its actual discovery occurred in 1997 by captain and oceanographer Charles J. Moore, who was returning from a regatta in California. While crossing a subtropical gyre in the North Pacific Ocean, Moore and his team noticed millions of pieces of plastic around the ship.

Research conducted by Charles Moore showed that 80% of garbage enters the ocean from land, 20% from ships at sea. For every square meter of contaminated areas, there are 3.34 pieces of plastic. In many areas of the large garbage patch, the concentration of plastic exceeds the concentration of zooplankton by seven times (!).

Studies of seawater have discovered compounds such as styrene monomer, used in the production of polystyrene, and bisphenol A, a chemical used in the production of hard plastics, reusable water bottles, etc. Bisphenol A negatively affects the reproductive system of animals, styrene -monomer is a carcinogenic substance.

Today, no country in the world is ready to take responsibility for cleaning up polluted areas of the ocean. Only a few international organizations are trying to carry out preventive work in order to prevent a catastrophic increase in pollution.

In addition, clearing the ocean of garbage is no longer as easy as it seems. Small particles of plastic are the same size as small marine animals - plankton, fry, etc. But at present, nets have not yet been invented to separate the “wheat from the chaff.” The question also remains open of what to do with the plastic that has settled to the bottom.

“Pacific Garbage Island” is the official name of humanity’s dirtiest heritage.

This problem has been talked about for more than 50 years, but the alarm only really sounded in the early 2000s. Because a new continent has appeared on the planet... out of garbage.

It all started with the invention of plastic. In everyday life and production, this is an irreplaceable thing, but as with everything, there are “buts”. Plastic is so cheap and accessible that people, without hesitation, got rid of it and bought a new one in return. All the garbage ended up in the ocean, where the main currents knocked plastic waste into garbage islands (oh yes! he is not alone). And this continues for more than 60 years. And since the decay period of plastic products is more than 100 years, we can assess the extent of the damage. For example, between the state of California, Hawaii and Alaska, an island of millions of tons of garbage floats, the size of Ukraine and the Black Sea.

Now it is far from surprising to hear ornithologists talk about syringes, lighters, toothbrushes found in dead birds, because... they mistake garbage for food.

According to rough estimates by scientists, at the moment the mass of garbage islands is more than 4 million (!) tons of garbage. And Charles Moore, in fact, the discoverer of the garbage island, believes that more than 100 million tons of trash are floating in the Pacific Ocean region.

For the most part, they try to ignore the landfill because it does not look like an ordinary island; rather, it resembles a soup of plastic that “suspended” in the water at a depth of one to one hundred meters. Moreover, 60% of garbage is found in the bottom layers, so it is almost impossible to imagine exactly how much trash the ocean can store.

A funny (or not so?) story about the Sargasso Sea (Bermuda Triangle). In the 17th century, corsairs, pirates and simply migrants to the new world frightened each other with fables about an island made of the bodies of dead sailors, masts and the wreckage of dead ships. At the moment, the masts and debris have been replaced by plastic bottles, bags and other rubbish. Nothing changes, only now it’s not just a fable. These are islands of death in the ocean. Due to the breakdown of plastic waste, the level of hydrogen sulfide is off the charts - which excludes the possibility of habitat for mammals, birds and large fish. And in addition, hydrogen sulfide produces such a stench that even military personnel prefer to sail in a roundabout way during maneuvers.

Singapore, an island with an area of about 700 square kilometers, is home to about 5 million people. The state needs more land and scientists have found salvation in ordinary garbage. Instead of creating landfills, garbage is used as construction material. Believe it or not, there is a green island there that is made out of trash. So how did they do it?

Eight kilometers south of the southern coast there is an island that was not on the maps until recently. Where there should be a sea, there are now 63 million cubic meters of land. Locals call this island Simakao. According to the project with a total cost of 400 million dollars, by 2040 all garbage will be converted into useful land. One of the leaders of this project, Yong Chong Peng, shares his impressions: “This island is not much different from the natural one. The same grass, the same butterflies and the same birds.”

But how to build a dream island on pizza packaging and plastic mineral water bottles? First, you need to recycle the garbage into garbage dust.

For this purpose, Singapore has a large processing plant, and it is there that building material is created for future islands.

Every day, hundreds of special vehicles bring up to 3,000 tons of new waste to the plant.

The waste is dried in two huge bins before being evenly distributed among six waste ovens. Highly flammable debris may catch fire while drying, which could cause a serious accident. To avoid such incidents, all bunkers are equipped with cameras with infrared sensors that respond to rising temperatures. The signal from the cameras goes to the control center, where specialists monitor the situation around the clock.

A fire and heavy smoke may occur in the chamber. It may be caused by a small spark in the heater mechanism. But this fire can be easily extinguished using directed jets of water.

A huge mechanical arm throws dried garbage into the oven. The arm can lift up to eight tons at a time.

The heat created in the furnace heats the water, which in turn turns the turbine. This is how electricity is generated here. 80 megawatts per hour is enough to provide energy to the plant and surrounding areas. Many Singaporeans have no idea that their hair dryer is working thanks to the cardboard box they threw away the day before yesterday. And they certainly don’t suspect that someday it will be possible to build a house for a hundred people on this box.

Transporting garbage dust is a labor-intensive job. Every day, more than 100 trucks transport dust to the naval base, where two huge tanks are ready, one and a half times the size of an Olympic swimming pool.

Storing dust is also not so simple. The slightest gust of wind and dust rises into the air. To avoid trouble, the dust is first soaked in water and then covered with metal plates. When the tank is filled and closed, a tug arrives at the base. Using a hydraulic clutch, the vessel is firmly connected to the container. The tug and tank become one large transport ship and set off on a 30-kilometer journey.

This beautiful island appeared when two identical containers of dust were poured into the sea. Now its area is about 3.5 square kilometers. And every day the island is gradually increasing.

Of course, if you just throw a bunch of dust in the middle of the sea, the waves will wash it away in a matter of hours. Goodbye paradise island? To ensure that the island retains its shape, a 7-kilometer-long road was laid along its perimeter. It is also called a dam. This rock mound plays an important role in the life of the island. It supports the coastline. There are even plastic plates here, they perform the same function. This mixture of rocks and plastic forms the skeleton of the island. The island itself is divided into several cells filled with water. Before a certain cell begins to be filled with dust, water is pumped out from there into the neighboring cell. This is a simple but very convenient system.