Where is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch located?

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean. Also known as the Pacific trash vortex, the garbage patch is actually two distinct collections of debris bounded by the massive North Pacific Subtropical Gyre.

Marine debris is litter that ends up in oceans, seas, and other large bodies of water. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch spans waters from the West Coast of North America to Japan.

It is estimated that 1.15 to 2.41 million tonnes of plastic are entering the ocean each year from rivers. More than half of this plastic is less dense than the water, meaning that it will not sink once it encounters the sea.

Stronger plastics show resiliency in the marine environment, allowing them to be transported over extended distances. Once these plastics enter the system they are unlikely to leave the area until they degrade into smaller microplastics under the effects of sun, waves and marine life. As more and more plastics and chemicals are discarded into the environment, microplastic concentration in the GPGP will only continue to increase.

The GPGP covers an estimated surface area of 1.6 million square kilometers, an area twice the size of Texas or three times the size of France. GPGP was estimated to be approximately 80,000 tonnes, which is 4-16 times more than previous calculations, as of 2019. This weight is also equivalent to that of 500 Jumbo Jets and can be seen from outer space.

More Info: www.nationalgeographic.org

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10 Comments

David Roy

It's a scandalous disgrace.

Helen Allard

I have a hard time realizing that people can be such pigs and don't care about our world.

Ian Swindale

Is anything being done to try and 'capture" at least some of this awful stuff or is it because of its huge size simply impossible or where do we put the stuff?

Stevie G

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world and is located between Hawaii and California.

Lawanta

In the photo you can see land to the left of the trail, so this seemed like too broad of an area to be the correct answer 🤔

Georgia Kemp

David Roy, As recently as the 1980's New York City just dumped its garbage into the Atlantic.

earlepg

A couple additional things about the twin vortexes in the Pacific Ocean; only about 30% of the garbage is floating, the other 70% is hidden down on the ocean floor; also there are also similar vortexes in the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the North Sea. There are organizations and individuals dedicated to cleaning the oceans, but their combined efforts are miniscule compared to the vast amount of garbage. Cleanup is hampered by the fact that there are tiny creatures mixed with the garbage that is subject to being scooped up with the garbage.