Water Issue: Floating Garbage Patches - Essay Example

?Lidia M. Lujan BIOL 2406 Environmental Biology Spring, Water Issue: Floating Garbage Patches Are they real? Are there really floatingislands of garbage and plastic to be found in our oceans? Yes, they exist really! The hard to recognize, but definitely present, enormous areas of floating garbage, kill many sea animals and release toxins, that can even come into our own food chains. The islands must not be seen as versions of Maui, because they are not really solid. The patches, also called gyres, are characterized by high levels of plastic, chemicals and other debris, such as fishing nets, plastic bags and pellets, cigarette lighters, diapers and toothbrushes. Most of the litter is so small that it is present in the top layer of the water columns. Due to this fact, they are very hard to see, even with a satellite view. These plastics end up in stomachs of birds and marine animals. Not only the larger animals are affected, but whole eco-systems (starting with the smaller fish or jellyfish) can be suffering from hormonal disruptions and toxins. The water and wind currents have gathered masses of garbage in some kind of soup. Scientists say that the biggest one, the Pacific Garbage Patch, is about the size of the state of Texas (UNEP). The Creation of the Garbage Patches At first, the thought was that the islands were formed by the water currents in the oceans, gathering all the rubbish. But, the rubbish also seemed to come from the land, where the wind takes it and brings it out to the sea. According to researches, 80% of the plastic in the sea originates from land and roughly 20% comes from boats (Greenpeace Int.). A passenger cruise ship can produce about eight tons of solid waste every week (Greenpeace Int.). Most of this waste is organic, but much of it will directly go the garbage patches. Due to the currents in the oceans, the garbage is contained and trapped in the swirling waters. Because of these currents, several garbage patches were created in our oceans; the North Atlantic Gyre, the South Atlantic Gyre, the Indian Ocean Gyre, the South Pacific Gyre and the North Pacific Gyre. The patches were already predicted in 1988, in a research paper from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This research was based on measurements of plastic and concentrations of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean (Day). The Problems of the Garbage Patches Plastic does not decay, but disintegrates into constantly smaller particles, till the molecular level. The molecules don’t decay any further and stay plastic polymers. Because they don’t fall apart, they stay afloat in the top layers of the water, where they are easily mistaken for food by fish and birds, that normally would get their food out of this part of the water (Greenpeace Int.). These animals will eat the plastic and give the toxins to their young, which sometimes die because of this. When the dead animals decay and end up back in the ocean, the plastic will return as well, where it can kill again. The levels of toxins in the water can become very high (Morton). Smaller fish, which swallow the toxins, are also food for other sea life like turtles or albatrosses, which will swallow the toxins and so on and so forth, until the chemicals end up on our own diner plate as well. The United Nations Environment Program (2005) says that the plastic is responsible for the deaths of more than 1.000.000 million seabirds and more than 100.000 sea animals, like whales, dolphins and seals. Further investigation has concluded that at least 267 animal species are being affected by this pollution (Greenpeace Int.). Around 6.4 million tons of litter comes into the seas every year. 8 million items are dumped in the sea every day, of which 5 million is thrown from ships (UNEP). The plastic does not only stay at the top of the water, it also sinks to the bottom. Here it covers and smothers the coral and sea life on the bottom of the ocean (UNEP). Greenpeace claims that about 70% of the plastic that ends up in the sea, will eventually end up on the seabed (UNEP). Cleaning, campaigns and alternatives Apparently it’s become very hard to clean up all this rubbish and the problems have become too big to handle. Everything is made very sustainable it will not decay and fall apart anymore. Even refrigerators and TV’s are floating around (Greenpeace Int.). How is it possible to clean up? The Environment Cleanup Coalition, under leadership of Richard Owen, is trying to map the different methods by which the patches might be able to be cleaned up (UNEP). Ian Kiernan, founder of the Australian Clean Up the World (Cleanuptheworld.Org), started his own campaign after seeing all the rubbish during his solo sail race around the world. And also, the Junk-Raft project, organized by Algalita Marine Research Foundation (Algalita.Org), is trying to get more recognition and attention of the broader public for this huge problem. The Algalita Foundation and marine researcher Charles Moore (2003), even say that the problem has become too much to handle. Cleaning has become virtually impossible. The area has become too large and the plastic has disintegrated till such a point, that it has become impossible to extract out of the seawater. Solutions to the Litter Problem Greenpeace is now asking to reduce, re-use and recycle plastic. But making a new product is still a lot cheaper than recycling sustainable plastic due to the amount of toxic chemicals released during the process. A solution would be the use of bioplastic. Traditional petrochemical plastic is made from petroleum, where as bioplastic is made out of corn and wheat and is completely renewable (Greenpeace Int.). People and business seem to be more and more interested in this bioplastic, also due to the ever rising of the oil prices. The Plantic Technologies Company (Plantic.Com.Au), for instance, has constructed several decomposable materials and developed for sports, medical equipment and agricultural purposes. Once this material is decomposed, nothing much is left but carbon dioxide and water. Conclusion If these islands exist, why aren’t we doing so much more about them? First, no one wants to take responsibility of the creation of these floating dangers. Second, it is just easier to ignore them. Besides that, they are hard to research because most of the plastic is floating under water. That makes it easier to say that they don’t exist. Cleaning, also, is apparently a lost cause, and even the scientists put their heads in the sand now. So, the toxic food is still finding its way to our table, and many animals are still dying. Still a lot more has to be done to make this problem recognized by the larger public (UNEP). People only now, seem to know about this, due to several smaller and bigger campaigns around the world. It seems like it’s already too late for the garbage that is already floating around, but at least we can stop littering and think about other solutions and ways to make plastic, before it’s really too late for us. Works Cited Algalita.org. Algalita Marine Research Foundation. n.d. Web. 12 April 2011. Cleanuptheworld.org. Clean Up The World Organization. n.d. Web. 12 April 2011. Day, Robert H., David G Shaw and Steven E. Ignell. “Quantitative distribution and characteristics of neuston plastic in the North Pacific Ocean, 1985-88.” Auke Bay, AK: National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, (1988): 247-266. PDF file. “Marine Litter: An Analytical Overview.” UNEP.org. United Nations Environment Program. Nairobi: UNEP, 2005. PDF file. Moore, Charles. “Trashed: Across the Pacific Ocean, Plastics, Plastics, Everywhere.” Natural History. 112.9 (2003): 46-51. Print. Morton, Thomas. “Toxic: Garbage Island.” CNN. 17 February 2010. Web. 12 April 2011. Plantic.com.au. Plantic Technologies. n.d. Web. 12 April 2011. “The Trash Vortex.” Greenpeace.org. Greenpeace International, n.d. Web. 12 April 2011. Read More