Point Gratiot Beach Pollution

Marine debris is more than ugly, it kills. There are two proposed plans to cleanup the North Pacific Garbage Island. An island that is made of garbage, primarily plastic. It is over 100 kilometers wide. That is an unbelievable amount of trash. That trash island is floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, between Hawaii and California. It has been spun together over time by currents, and the atmospheric pressure in the middle of the ocean is stronger than average. The island’s plastic has melted together, creating a bed of plastic for the rest of the trash to lie on. A a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the effect of the human population’s waste. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of trash floating in the ocean where there is a high density of garbage because of the Pacific Gyre. “Though their name suggests rafts of bobbing refuse, the patches are instead areas with high concentrations of trash — mostly wee bits of plastic particles that have degraded from larger pieces of litter such as water bottles. The bits amass within ocean vortices, driven by wind and ocean currents.”( Mole) The types of waste found in the garbage patch are micro plastics and macro plastics. Macro plastics can range from

Plastic comes in innumerable shapes and sizes; it is used for various purposes. We use it to bag our groceries, pay with it, drink from it, occasionally eat off it or unwrap it to get to food, etc. The functionality of plastic is continual and surrounds us, so what is the con of plastic? When plastic cups, bottles, and bags are abandoned in the street, the wind transports and the rain seizes them into storm gutters, tributaries and eventually the ocean. When rubbish and plastic originate from terrestrial territory and enters the sea it is swept away by an eddy vortex called the North Pacific Gyre. Charles Moore discovered the North Pacific Gyre, or also known as “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch” in 1997. This garbage patch stretches hundreds of miles off the shoreline of California and Hawaii. Scientists estimated its size to be twofold the size of Texas or maybe even more substantial. This garbage patch contains some ten million tons of litter. According to Lindsey Blomberg, who wrote the article titled The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, writes, “What is known for certain is that the marine debris in the North Pacific Gyre is 80% plastic and it's mostly coming from land.” (1) Although the trash is in the ocean, it not only affects us but, wildlife on land or in sea too. Furthermost of the waste in the ocean consists of "microplastics" which according to Kitt Doucette, who wrote the article titled An Ocean Of Plastic is, “Larger chunks of waste that have been reduced to tiny

The beauty of California is slowly fading away and as environmentalists would say, “There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surrounding” (Carson, 366). According to the findings revealed by research foundations in California, marine life is and has been in great danger as a result of plastic remains that accumulates in the Ocean. In his article Daniel Woods states, “Approximately eighty percent of remains found in Oceans are made of plastic that originates from urban runoffs such as plastic trash carried away from landfills, trucks, as well as garbage containers, marinas, ports and construction trash” (Wood, 20). Furthermore, these results also revealed that marine remains where made up of disposable plastic products that constitute food packaging as well as containers that are ever present and contain precious resources that can be used unsustainably. These issues have affected the state critically and have lead me to research the reasons behind the banning of plastic pollution, their economic impact, harm resulting from plastic pollution, as well as federal concerns on plastic contamination.

The planets sustainability is under attack from human dependency on the convenience of plastic and are failing in the proper disposal of those items. Advocacy groups the like of Cairns and Far North Environment Centre (cafnec) who are offering solutions through education awareness and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) who are offering grants for marine debris removal, educational programs and research. In an article from cafnec (2013) they pointed out that 80% of plastic debris comes from land and during beach clean up the most common item found have been plastic bottle caps, bags and pellets. These items are being are in dead seabirds gizzards as they cannot distinguish plastic debris from food. Human littering of

In the documentary “Inside the Garbage of the World”, the main social problem being explained is that there has been a great influx of plastic and other type of garbage in oceans and their beaches. This buildup of pollution has largely affected the wildlife population ranging from animals on the beaches to the creatures of the ocean. In oceans, what is called ‘garbage patches’, a large buildup of garbage that flow to one area in the oceans, are being created. Approximately 50 percent of all plastic sinks to the bottom of the ocean floor but about 2 times that much is actually already on the ocean floor. In fact, according to the documentary, there is a garbage patch that is to the left of California that is the size of half of the United States. Each year, about 4.7 million tons of plastic goes in the ocean a year and it is estimated that by 2050, there will be another 33 billion tons of plastic added to the present amount. Eighty percent of the current pollution comes from the land. According to marine researchers, twice as much plastic debris is one the ocean floor than it was 10 years ago. In the futures, plastic will break down into smaller pieces of plastic, creating a bigger problem from the habitat. This plastic pollution is one of the leading cause for beach and ocean inhabiting creatures be extinct because animals are mistaking these plastic pieces for food. When scientist began to dissect beach animals such as birds, they discovered that at least fifteen pounds of

Every potato chip bag thrown on the floor, every balloon released into the air, and every gum wrapper discarded on the sidewalk has an affect on our planet. In the short term we view these acts as miniscule and irrelevant, but what most of us fail to understand is that every act of pollution has a snowball effect that only harms us and our environment. Unfortunately, most of the plastic waste we throw on the floor ends up on our beaches, in our waterways, and in our oceans. Especially in Florida, where everyone is at most 45 mins from the beach, it is not difficult for trash to find its way to our oceans. Marine debris, ocean trash or ocean pollution, regardless of its many names the rhetoric still stands; every piece of litter has a ripple effect that ultimately makes it to our oceans.

In modern society, plastic, the highly malleable and cost-effective polymer, dominates the compositional structure of products within all industries. It is an essential ingredient found in packaging, construction, transportation, electronics, healthcare, and everyday common necessities. At every turn, this durable substance can be found in whichever way, shape, or form, and for this reason, it is the most widespread pollutant to enter the earth’s oceans. An estimated, “15% to 40% of [all] littered or dumped plastic enters the ocean each year,” (Chen 1). In addition to this, approximately, “4 million to 12 million metric tons of plastic washed offshore in 2010 alone,” and continues to rise each year with the mass consumption and unceremonious disposal of plastics (Chen 1). Therefore, there is enough plastic in the ocean to circle the earth numerous times. However, a large portion of these plastics go unaccounted by. The interconnecting forces of ocean currents, wind patterns, and other geological features results in the complex movements of plastics within the ocean, and thus, the creation of garbage patches and their accompanying ecological ramifications.

of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the exact size remains unknown. In addition, Doucette warns us that this patch contains more than ten million tons of waste. She describes the area to be a “fetid swamp of debris where tiny bits of decaying plastic outweigh zooplankton- one of the most prolific and abundant organisms on the planet- by a ration of six-to-one”(Doucette). It is now apparent that the amount of plastic particles residing in our oceans is damaging the natural habit and this trash is not going anywhere. Due to the currents in the ocean, plastic particles are

Conclusion – best ways to handle the rising problem like mass consumption, production, rubbish and how to protect it – recycling.

When people get thirsty, we look for something to drink, typically water. When people get hungry, we look for food, typically a snack or two. We tend to look for shortcuts just so that our lives can be easier. In terms of trash the easiest way for trash to be disposed, is to just throw it on the ground or litter. Mainly focused on the coasts of our land, laws and regulations are being put in place to stop the plastic pollution crime and save our waters. Plastic pollution in the United States is an increasing issue due to the spread of dangerous chemicals, clogged sewers, and bad disposable processes; contributions to America’s Cup Healthy Ocean Project and increased awareness of the Marine Plastic

Imagine chicken noodle soup. Delicious, right? With its chunks of chicken, noodles, and carrots all mixed together thanks to a delicious broth. Now, imagine this as the ocean. What should be clear water is now cloudy broth with chunks of plastic, fishing nets and shoes strewn about the mix. This is what Captain Charles Moore saw when he stumbled across the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. In 1997, Moore took his research vessel through a stretch of the Pacific Ocean called the North Pacific High while traveling from Hawaii to California. He discovered a “thin plastic soup … lightly seasoned with plastic flakes, bulked out here and there with ‘dumplings’: buoys, net clumps, floats, crates, and other ‘macro debris’” (Moore 4). The small plastic pieces are due to photodegradation, which is the process of the sun breaking larger plastics into tinier and tinier pieces (Turgeon). It was estimated in 2014 that there are some 2,000 billion pieces of plastic just on the surface of the North Pacific Ocean, although the true number cannot be calculated (VOX). Moore’s estimation of the weight from the surface plastics he saw in 1997 was some 6.7 million tons, the same amount of trash dumped into the largest landfill at the time in Los Angeles (Moore 18). Moore’s discovery led to a flurry of research on the causes and possible solutions. The most effective solution for cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is to use detainees of American prisons and

1. In order for humans to ensure and continue basic consummation of needs for present and future generations, we must reduce the Ecological bearings of waste on the environment (“Monitoring the Ecological Effects of Coastal Aquaculture Waste Food”). Natural aspects and impacts of waste are measured by an environmental management structure that assesses the potential significant effect carried out and detected. The ability to detect an ecological change in the environment is relative to the degree of the waste impact (“Environmental and Ecological Aspects” 5). We must sustain our planet by managing and sustaining our natural resources, therefore, instituting change in the way we eliminate waste. Solid waste is included in the ecological footprint of everyone. The term “ecological footprint” means the volume of land and water a social population requires to yield the resources it consumes and to absorb its wastes. Disposing of excess material has an enormous conservational bearing and can cause

Many people in today’s world wouldn’t blink twice when seeing stray trash in Washington parks or beaches. There are even some who forget that they’ve left their own trash astray and leave their wrapper or soda can alone to float elsewhere. Much of this trash instead of being contained and thrown away, end up being swept away by the rain into sewers and into the Pacific Ocean. More attention should be brought towards the importance of properly disposing of trash and alternate choices that are environmentally friendly, keeping in mind how these stray pieces add onto a landslide of problems. In doing so, one might ask, “What reforms might be made in order to minimize human waste in the Pacific Ocean’s marine life?”

Beach vacations are an annual summer event for many families. But beachgoers at polluted beaches around the country may bring back an unwanted souvenir from their trip: ear infections, stomach flu, skin rashes, and other illnesses that are caused by polluted beachwater. To help keep our beaches clean, NRDC supports improved beachwater testing to detect the pathogens that can cause health problems in swimmers. Bills now pending in Congress would provide funding for much-needed beach cleanup efforts and help ensure that the public is notified promptly when beaches are unsafe for swimming.