The+Great+Pacific+Garbage+Patch

Debris of all sorts, such as plastic, toxic sludge, and many other things, have built up. Despite its density and large size it is not visible from satellite images. This is due to the fact that most of the debris is too small to see, and it is all mostly under the surface of the ocean.
 * The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is located in the Pacific Ocean.**

The large pacific trash pile was caused by overtime build up of trash that was thrown into rivers and streams. Through out time all of the trash has traveled to the Pacific Ocean. Other contrubiters are the marine ships dumping waste and large containers breaking open and spilling into the ocean. All of this trash and debris has been swept to this one spot of the ocean, located at about 135 W and 42 N, by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre.

It is estimated by the U.N. that there is appropriately about 705,000 tons of waste, in which 90% comes from land and the remaning 10% comes from marine use. **It is being debated how large this patch is. Some say it is twice the size of Hawaii, while others say it is twice the size of Texas.**



There are many possible dangers stemming from this garbage patch. One is that it could pollute the water and start killing the marine life that lives around it, as well as life that gets fresh water from he currents sweeping aound it. Another possible problem is the pollution of the water itself. We have technology now that can purify the water, but for the natives of certain lands this could be a huge problem. They can boil the salt out of the water, but they can't remove the poisons the waste is putting in it. media type="custom" key="22891180"
 * The large amount of plastic that exists in the GPGP is especially dangerous to marine life. Seagulls for instance often mistake plastic particles for food, feeding them to their young which induces choking and death.**