Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Kevin Leary, Eric Taylor, Danny Kane
http://isamaras.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/trash-pattern.gif
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What IS the Garbage Patch?
- The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also
referred to as Garbage Island, or the Pacific Trash Vortex, is a heap
of debris, mostly marine litter,
that is caught in the
middle of the North Pacific Gyre. It has been estimated that the size
of the "patch" is roughly twice the size of Texas. The patch is
considered to be the largest landfill in the world. It is a major
concern for environmentalists because of it's effects on wildlife, and
it's ever growing size. The patch is not visible from satellite images,
because a lot of the trash is not quite floating at the surface.
However, on certain points of Hawaii, there are feet upon feet of
marine trash washed up onto shore. In the area known as the Garbage
Patch, plastics outweigh plankton at a ratio of six to one, making it
nearly impossible for some wildlife to live.