The Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch

Background:

Based on recent scientific expeditions into the Pacific Ocean Gyre (a convergence zone where debris is accumulating), a wide variety of technical and scientific problems associated with this debris mass are coming to light. While dumping waste into the ocean is not a new activity, the scientific community’s realization that much of the debris (plastics, in particular) are accumulating in high densities over a large area of the Pacific Ocean is new. The scientific community also is learning that this debris creates many potential threats to marine ecology, and, therefore, to human well-being. Those who study this accumulation often describe it as plastic soup or confetti.