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The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Aceson's Oceaneleen program targets the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This is the name of an area of the Pacific Ocean where an enormous amount of litter, washed from the shores of all the Pacific rim nations - has collected.It is almost inconceivable to those whom first hear of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch that it exists, and is doubtful anyone can truly comprehend the area it occupies.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a huge area of man-made debris and litter, mainly consisting of broken up plastic particles covering an immense area in the Mid-Pacific Ocean
Size descriptions of the area of litter in the Pacific Ocean - known by some as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” - are:
- Six times the area of Great Britain
- Twice the size of France, or the same combined area as France, Spain and Portugal
- Nearly the size of the State of Alaska, United States of America.
- Equal to the Northern Territory, Australia
- About half the area of India
The problem with this data on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the fact these measurements are at least 5 years old. It is likely much larger now due to the Japanese tsunami devastation and severe floods in several Pacific rim nations, placing more debris out to sea.
Additional worrying information
- The
data on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch Wikipedia has not been
refreshed since 2008: this shows a lack of scientific and public
interest in the situation.
- The Great Pacific Garbage Patch only gets 5000 searches every month on Goolgle: this is a comparitively small amount when compared to hits for say... Lady Gaga.
That the civilised world has let this happen is difficult to comprehend. The problem is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, in the Mid-Pacific Ocean is so isolated no government is nearby and thereby no-one is accountable. Especially not in the last decade where economic recessions have been common.
Prior to the advanced social enterprise of Aceson it wasn't thought possible anyone could or would do anything about it.
The area of rubbish is thought by Briggs, who does a lot of work in thermo-dynamics - to be having a significant impact on climate change. The large debris field forms a blanket over the ocean and thereby a type of crude thermal blanket. Only an infinitesimal temperature change would create a large change in the planets climate. A swimming pool cover retains 97% of a pools heat.
The Great Pacific Garbage patch is similar in size to the area of water producing the El Niño and La Niña weather patterns, wildly affecting Australian weather patterns despite being 8,000 kms away. It could be speculated it is a large contributor to the record peaks in weather activity noticed over the last year: from highest and lowest temperatures to the recession of the Arctic circle.
The aspect of the litter in the gyre being plastic means it is resistant to breaking down. Sea-life in the location of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is sparse - fish breathe the water through their gills after all, which would soon be fouled by all the plastic particles, drowning the fish. The area is known as baron of sea-life.
The mess is quite simply one of the greatest ecological disasters of the 20th century, still expanding in the 21st Century.
While the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest oceanic debris field, there are more areas of rubbish trapped in other oceanic gyre currents.