The Great Pacific Garbage Patch free essay sample

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Living on this earth is a privilege and unfortunately we sometimes take advantage of it. Stories of deforestation, air and water pollution really make a person think of just how much our planet is being harmed. A major concern is water pollution. Water covers at least 70 percent of the planet which makes our rivers, lakes, and oceans essential. Many of these bodies of water are being polluted and although they may be out of sight, they eventually help pollution increase. Actions should be made to stop the pollution of our waters before things get worse. If we want to decrease the amount of pollution it starts out by increasing the amount of recycling we do. It shouldn’t stop there. Not only should efforts to improve laws against water pollution be made but public awareness ¬Ã‚ ¬ has to be raised about this issue. It is believed that the world’s largest garbage dump isnt on land but in the Pacific Ocean. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is pretty much what it sounds like; a garbage patch way out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. In an article posted on How Stuff Works. com it’s said that, â€Å"It stretches from the coast of California to Japan, and its estimated to be twice the size of Texas† (Silverman, Jacob). The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is located in the Pacific Subtropical Gyre. The Gyre is a spiral of currents created by a system of air currents. These air currents move in circular rotation which helps keep the garbage trapped. It’s an area filled with millions of pounds of trash with most of it being plastic. Its the largest landfill in the world, and its sitting in the middle of the ocean. Water pollution can have serious economic and health impacts by killing marine life and causing environmental harm.  ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬ While theres still some uncertainty of what is all in garbage patch, we do know that most of it is made of plastic. The reason plastic is such a major cause of water pollution is because unlike most other trash, plastic isnt biodegradable. This means the microbes that break down other substances dont recognize plastic as food, leaving it to float there forever. Sunlight does eventually play a part as it breaks plastic down into smaller pieces but that can just make it  worse. The plastic still never goes away it just becomes microscopic. â€Å"Of the more than 200 billion pounds of plastic the world produces each year, about 10 percent ends up in the ocean. † (Earth Magazine). Most of that plastic eventually sinks, damaging life on the ocean floor. The plastic that floats ends up in gyres, and settle in massive garbage patches that form there, much like the Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Plastic is a very useful material but when in the ocean, it endangers animal life. Small surface debris, mostly plastic resin pellets are a common piece of marine debris. Because they are so small they can easily get lost along the way, washing through the water with other plastics and into the sea. Pollution like this is causing harm to sea animals such as the seabird; the albatross. The albatross scoops its food from the ocean and without knowing picks up trash along the way. Plastic debris along with other garbage is then fed to its young mistakenly for food. â€Å"Of the 500,000 albatross chicks born here each year, about 200,000 die, mostly from dehydration or starvation. A two-year study funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency showed that chicks that died from those causes had twice as much plastic in their stomachs as those that died for other reasons. † (Weiss R. Kenneth, New York Times). The altraboss isn’t the only animal suffering from this source of pollution. In the article â€Å"â€Å"The growing number of abandoned plastic fishing nets is one of the greatest dangers from marine debris†, says Bamford, and (Bamford, Holly 2009). The nets entangle seals, sea turtles and other animals and can often result in drowning them. Because fishermen are now using plastic for its low cost, abandon nets can continue fishing on their own for months or even years. This can cause harm to any animal but sea turtles seem especially susceptible. Not only are they entangled by fishing nets, they often swallow plastic bags, mistaking them for jellyfish. They can also get caught up in a variety of other objects, and there has been stories heard of snapping turtle that grow up with a plastic ring around their bodies. As a society as whole we tend to generate a lot of trash. There’s no stopping the amount of trash that piles up, but we can decide what we do with it. In order to decrease water pollution the amount of recycling has to increase. Recycling doesn’t have to be difficult and it’s something that can be done right at home. Different sorts of plastic, aluminum cans, and steel are all valuable recyclables. Instead of just having a basic trash can, there can be a recycling bin right next to it or in a common place like the kitchen. If more households decide to take action and make recycling a habit it can have one of the most beneficial outcomes towards our environment. When a product is recycled it is turned back into its raw form. That can later be used to create a new and different product. Recycling can also take place outside of the home. Environmental groups and organizations have been doing their efforts to help clean this place up little by little. People who have the privilege to live by some of our waters, like an ocean or even lakes and rivers can do their part to contribute by removing waste on shore. This most likely won’t be rewarded but the fact that it’s a step in helping our environment should be satisfactory enough. When we recycle not only are we conserving natural resources but it can significantly reduce additional waste. Most importantly, this means that less waste ends up in our oceans. Along with recycling, laws should be enforced in efforts to improve water pollution. It can start by raising fines on pollution. Dumping waste like toxins and plastics into the ocean is a serious problem and should be dealt with properly. Companies and businesses that carelessly let harmful chemicals and products contaminate water which flows back into rivers and streams should be disciplined. An example is nuclear power plants which are very harmful to the environment as it is. These companies release radiated water into lakes and rivers near without even thinking about the consequences. These rivers can flow to larger bodies of water and ultimately cause a negative impact on society. Toxic waste can be very harmful forms of pollution towards animals and humans. †When toxic waste harms an organism, it can quickly be passed along the food chain and may eventually end up being our seafood. † (Oracle Education Foundation). The elimination of plastic bags should also be considered. â€Å"During 2009’s International Coastal Cleanup, the Ocean Conservancy found that plastic bags were the second-most common kind of waste found, at 1 out of ten items picked up and tallied† (Clean Air Council). Banning plastic grocery bags would decrease the amount of plastic that ends up in waste. We amazingly still produce more than 260 million tons of plastic each year† (Earth Magazine). Straying away from unneeded plastics would be a major change and one for the better. This problem won’t go away unless awareness is raised. There are many originations out there with the main goal of helping our environment. Organizations like the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) are trying to find ways to improve our water system. Charity to these types of organizations is key way to help raise awareness. There are many websites out there that help provide information about what exactly is polluting our waters and ways to prevent it from happening. Sites like â€Å"American Rivers. org† and â€Å"Bio Process H20† offer tips and solutions to help decrease sources of pollution. There’s always articles, newspapers, etc. that deal with helping the environment and the importance of recycling so that shouldn’t be a problem to find out. We are the ones who live on this earth so if we don’t take care of it, we are the ones who will have to deal with those consequences. Water is one of the most important parts of our lives so why not try to make a change for the better. The pollution to our water not only hurts the environment as a whole, but it can cause major damage to animal life and even humans. There are many ways to take action to this problem so why not do so. To ¬Ã‚ ¬ decrease the amount of pollution in our waters we need to recycle more, improve laws against water pollution and raise public awareness about this problem. We can each help out in our own way and little by little, we can make a positive impact on earth’s water supply.