Revisiting the Pacific Trash Vortex

Are you familiar with the Pacific Trash Vortex (a.k.a. Great Pacific Garbage Patch)?  It’s hard to define, but could be described, as National Geographic says, a “free-floating ‘dump’ twice the size of Texas.” It lives (or lurks, rather) somewhere between California and Hawaii, and continuously collects garbage (mostly plastic) due to converging ocean currents.

The Pacific Trash Vortex isn’t a new discovery – scientists have been aware of its existence since the late 90s. Nevertheless it persists as a primary piece of evidence of world-wide issues with improper waste disposal.

“Perhaps 10 percent of the 260 million tons of plastic produced worldwide each year ends up in the sea–much of it in the swirling currents of the North Pacific Gyre and other ocean vortices,” National Geographic said.

Yikes. Learn more about the make-up of the vortex and what scientists have learned from this bastion of marine pollution by reading the full article here. So, who’s up for a little precycling?

(image: LAFD Dive)