The largest dumping site in our ocean is the Eastern Garbage Patch, aka the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, located between Hawaii and California. Garbage here is dumped into the North Pacific Gyre, which is the center of several currents, causing a swirling mass of floating trash, also described as the Pacific Trash Vortex. Its estimated that 80% of the trash is from a land-based source, and the other 20% from ships. Its impossible to be completely sure of just how big the patch is, but its estimated size is up to and more than one and a half times the size of the US, and over 100 feet in depth.
http://www.pollutionissues.com/Na-Ph/Ocean-Dumping.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch
http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jul/10-the-worlds-largest-dump
If we can't dump our waste into the water were are we suppose to put it?
ReplyDeleteWow I had no idea that this patch is so big. I am surprised we haven't seen a large scale interuption in sea life or industry already. I think that we will here about this causing big problems in the near future.
ReplyDeleteOnce we dump large amounts of trash into the ocean is there any way we can remove it?
ReplyDeleteIs there any way of knowing who is dumping all of this trash into the ocean? If there was a way to figure this out, could the area be somewhat "guarded" or "on watch"? I agree with you in that garbage dumping is a serious problem that affects many different species.
ReplyDeleteI agree with ryan, where else would we put the garbage? I'm not condoning that we should dump trash into the ocean though. We should recycle the the plastic. Has anyone heard of the man who built a house on top of a bunch of plastic bottles tied together and that causes his house to float in the water?
ReplyDeleteIs the trash being dumped in that one spot, or is it being dumped all over and collecting in that spot?
ReplyDeleteIt is disgusting that we dump all of this trash into the ocean. I don't think one single individual would agree that this is a safe, effective way to store our waste, but I'm sure a large percent of our population has contributed to this enormous pile of trash.
ReplyDeleteAre there any efforts to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? Which countries have begun these efforts? Has the United States taken any action?
ReplyDeleteAre there any current environmental laws that protect the oceans so that the disposal of these wastes into the oceans is prevented? If not, there should be environmental laws regulating the disposal of this trash. Are there any methods of garbage disposal that do much less damage to the environment because I believe that many forms of garbage disposal are harmful to the environment? Probably, the only realistic method is the reduction in the production of toxic and non-biodegradable products.
ReplyDeleteI think the big question is where else are we going to dump the trash, I'm completely against dumping it in the ocean but i think burning it is just as bad...... either way we cant stop polluting our environment and thats sad.
ReplyDeleteI think there should be an environmental law of dumping trash into the oceans, if there isn't one already! For example, turtles eat jelly fish and when they come to the surface of the ocean and they see a "jelly fish" object that is really a trash bag the turtle is going to eat it and die. We need to pay attention on where we dump things and try very hard not to make our waste be put in the ocean. The things that we do just because we are lazy may mean the life of an animal. Do you know of any laws re-guarding this? And what is the punishment?
ReplyDeleteThis is a serious problem, this garbage patch is destroying habits and killing many creatures. Environmentalists need to get together and find a way to clean this up and eventually stop this from happening.
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