bajaguy - 11-27-2007 at 08:20 AM
Earth's Eighth Continent
North Pacific Gyre traps flotsam. It swirls. It grows. It's a massive, floating 'garbage patch.'
By David Reid
Published: November 21, 2007
The Phoenix
Located in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii and measuring in at roughly twice the size of Texas, this elusive mass is home to hundreds
of species of marine life and is constantly expanding. It has tripled in size since the middle of the 1990s and could grow tenfold in the next decade.
Although no official title has been given to the mass yet, a popular label thus far has been "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch."
As suggested by the name, the island is almost entirely comprises human-made trash. It currently weighs approximately 3.5 million tons with a
concentration of 3.34 million pieces of garbage per square kilometer, 80 per cent of which is plastic.
Due to the Patch's location in the North Pacific Gyre, its growth is guaranteed to continue as this Africa-sized section of ocean spins in a vortex
that effectively traps flotsam.
Few visitors
The cause for the Patch's relative lack of acknowledgment is that the portion of the Pacific it occupies is almost entirely unvisited. It lacks the
wind to attract sailing vessels, the biology to encourage fishing, and is not in the path of major shipping lanes.
What little air movement there is blows inwards, further trapping the garbage.
According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Marcus Eriksen, a director at the Algatita Marine Research Foundation, said that "with the
winds blowing in and the currents in the gyre going circular, it's the perfect environment for trapping."
While the trash is in the ocean, it is doing what could be irreparable harm to sea life, the water it's in, and eventually humans.
Plastic resists biodegrading. Instead, a plastic shopping bag or pop bottle will photo-degrade over time, meaning that it will break down into smaller
and smaller pieces but retain its original molecular composition.
The result is a great amount of fine plastic sand that resembles food to many creatures.
Unfortunately, the plastic cannot be digested, so sea birds or fish can eventually starve to death with a stomach full of plastic.
Even if the amount of plastic in a creature's body is not enough to block the passage of food, the small pellets act as sponges for several toxins,
concentrating chemicals such as DDT to 1 million times the normal level.
This concentration then works its way up the food chain until a fish is served at our dinner table.
A deadly shining
Some birds, attracted to the shining in the ocean, approach the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in search of food. Marine researchers have commented that
pelicans dissected in that area have stomachs so full of lighters that they resemble convenience stores. Sea turtles are also prone to mistaking
plastic bags for jelly fish, which then cause their deaths or sit in their guts for the decades it takes the bags to break down.
In total, 267 species have been reported to have eaten from, or become entangled in, the Patch.
According to Chris Parry of the California Coastal Commission, regrettably little can be done to clean up the Patch, although many urge that a
decreased reliance on plastic is the first step.
"At this point," said Parry, "cleaning it up isn't an option . . . it's just going to get bigger as our reliance on plastics continues."
"The long-term solution is to stop producing as much plastic products at home and change our consumption habits."
Cleaning up the Patch will likely cost billions of dollars and, as an approximation, be more difficult than vacuuming every inch of the United States.
The plastic and garbage reach more than 30 metres down into the ocean and a great number of organisms would be destroyed in the process.
So far, no country has so much as proposed a solution, presumably because no nation wishes to claim responsibility.
Even if all plastic usage were to stop immediately, future geologists would be able to clearly mark the stratum designating the 20th and 21st century
by an indelible layer of plastic coating the world's oceans.
David Reid is a reporter for The Phoenix, the student newspaper of UBC
Cypress - 11-27-2007 at 08:23 AM
Jeez!!
Sunman - 11-27-2007 at 08:33 AM
I shouldn't just now be hearing about this...amazing this isn't more publicized.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pacific_Gyre
castaway$ - 11-27-2007 at 08:48 AM
Is this a recyclers paradise?
Minnow - 11-27-2007 at 01:27 PM
David Reid is a reporter for The Phoenix, the student newspaper of UBC
Some sources[2] have incorrectly reported that there is a "floating continent" of debris that is roughly twice the size of Texas, however no
scientific investigation, including Moore's, has verified this.
More liberal Sensationalism. 
Ojosraros - 11-27-2007 at 01:56 PM
thanks for this info. I remember studying about this problem while at UCSB. About 2 -3 years ago, the LA Times published a 5 day article filled with
graphics, photos, videos, and superb research. Very acclaimed article, got heaps of attention. Day 4 deals with this problem, be ready for digusting
photos. I guess you could say seeing is believing but some people will choose never to believe. I want a clean freaking ocean!!
If the link doesnt pop up, do a google search. enter altered oceans & you'll see it.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/oceans/la-oceans-series,0,...
Barry A. - 11-27-2007 at 02:14 PM
As always seems to be the case, the "problem" is mis-characterised--------we should not cut down on plastic production, we should get serious about
recycling-------it is the users of plastic that cause this problem, not the producers. Without plastic ours, and the worlds, economies will collaspe,
and then NOTHING can be accomplished.
Here in Redding, CA we (everybody) recycles almost everything------metals, paper, cardboard, all plastics, all glass, and green waste--------------we
each have individual containers (all 80 gallons each) that are collected weekly, one for green waste, and one for all other recyclables, and then a
pure garbage container------all processed by a state-of-the-art recycling plant on the edge of town operated by the city. If we can do it, almost
everybody can. It just takes the "will" to do it.
We are so neat-------just ask us!!!!!! 
barry
fishbuck - 11-27-2007 at 02:17 PM
So what are you saying that Baja is this floating pile of garbage?
Al G - 11-27-2007 at 02:30 PM
You are right on Barry...all plastic has to be recycled.
Most of this "island" did not come from shore...ships did this including the US Navy...I know. I dumped some over aboard on the USS Hornet. I had
figured they would have stopped by now, but I guess not. Just think about how many ships are out there....
A floating Mega Resort
bajaguy - 11-27-2007 at 02:32 PM
Rumor is that Fred Sanford of Sanford and Sons Recycling will build a "mega resort" on this floating island........
[Edited on 11-27-2007 by bajaguy]
fishbuck - 11-27-2007 at 07:45 PM
I think they have gathered up the trash island and dumped it in El Rosario on the side of the road on the way south.
I noticed it when I stopped to take a leak after the bridge and was attacked by like 1 million flies.
Mexitron - 11-27-2007 at 11:34 PM
I'm not sure what this has to do with Baja either.
Who knows though, if resources get scarce it might be economical to clean it up for recycling. Of course by then certain sea-life will have adapted
to it and you'll have the "Save the Garbage Patch Coalition".