Garbage Patch Islands in the Oceans

Sunday April 06th 2008
Filed Under Environment, World 

An enormous collection of garbage weighing more than 3 tons and a size of twice the state of Texas is floating out in an isolated section of the Pacific Ocean.  The garbage patch, dubbed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is held together by a rotating system of currents known as the North Pacific Gyre.  The swirling currents bring the collected debris into the relatively calm center of the North Pacific Gyre.   In the past this collection of garbage biodegraded over time but with the modern addition of plastics the broken pieces. instead of biodegrading, clump together into a large mass of waster.

Image courtesy of Greenpeace

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