Problems caused by oceanic rubbish and ways it can be managed
Problems caused by oceanic rubbish and ways it can be managed
In the Pacific Ocean there is a large ‘island’ of rubbish around twice the size of Texas. It has accumulated over the years between the area of California and Japan. There is rubbish on and below the surface of the water creating a sea of rubbish. The rubbish comes from rivers where it has just been dropped into or blown into. It also comes from the fishing industry when they leave their old nets because they have no means of getting rid of them, or they are just lazy. There is also a lot of rubbish from natural disasters, such as the Japanese tsunami.
Plastic is believed to form up to 90 per cent of the rubbish floating in the oceans. The UN Environment Programme estimates that every square mile of ocean contains 46,000 pieces of floating plastic. Plastic debris causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals every year by ingestion and entanglement. Besides killing wildlife, plastic and other debris damages boat and submarine equipment, litter beaches, discourage swimming and harm commercial and local fisheries. All of the ocean’s animals are affected by the rubbish. Turtles think plastic is jellyfish and eat it causing massive problems. There are also some extremes such as the turtle pictured growing through a plastic ring he got caught in when young. The problem of plastic and other accumulated trash affects beaches and oceans all over the world. Land masses that end up in the path of the rotating gyres receive particularly large amounts of trash. The 19 islands of the Hawaiian archipelago, including Midway, receive massive quantities of trash shot out from the gyres. Some of the trash is decades old. Some beaches are buried under five to 10 feet of trash, while other beaches are riddled with "plastic sand," millions of grain-like pieces of plastic that are practically impossible to clean up.
Most of this trash doesn't come from seafaring vessels dumping junk --
In the Pacific Ocean there is a large ‘island’ of rubbish around twice the size of Texas. It has accumulated over the years between the area of California and Japan. There is rubbish on and below the surface of the water creating a sea of rubbish. The rubbish comes from rivers where it has just been dropped into or blown into. It also comes from the fishing industry when they leave their old nets because they have no means of getting rid of them, or they are just lazy. There is also a lot of rubbish from natural disasters, such as the Japanese tsunami.
Plastic is believed to form up to 90 per cent of the rubbish floating in the oceans. The UN Environment Programme estimates that every square mile of ocean contains 46,000 pieces of floating plastic. Plastic debris causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals every year by ingestion and entanglement. Besides killing wildlife, plastic and other debris damages boat and submarine equipment, litter beaches, discourage swimming and harm commercial and local fisheries. All of the ocean’s animals are affected by the rubbish. Turtles think plastic is jellyfish and eat it causing massive problems. There are also some extremes such as the turtle pictured growing through a plastic ring he got caught in when young. The problem of plastic and other accumulated trash affects beaches and oceans all over the world. Land masses that end up in the path of the rotating gyres receive particularly large amounts of trash. The 19 islands of the Hawaiian archipelago, including Midway, receive massive quantities of trash shot out from the gyres. Some of the trash is decades old. Some beaches are buried under five to 10 feet of trash, while other beaches are riddled with "plastic sand," millions of grain-like pieces of plastic that are practically impossible to clean up.
Most of this trash doesn't come from seafaring vessels dumping junk --