Ocean Gyre
Plastic is also swept away by ocean currents, landing in swirling vortexes called ocean gyres. Gyres circle are found in the middle of the ocean, becuase these regions are relatively stable. That means the ocean water stays in one place and does not cirulate. Earth wind patterns creat ocean surface currents. It gets also influenced by the Coriolis effect. That results into clockwise motioning currents in the Northern Hemisphere and the counterclockwise motioning currents in the Southern Hemisphere. The central part of a gyre has calm air above it, so the water is smooth. On the earth are five big Gyres. One is in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. It got created by the Golf Stream Current. (9) Another one is the North Pacific Gyre of the coast of California is home to the
Quick Facts:
The average American will throw away approximately 185 pounds of plastic per year.
Approximately 380 billion plastic bags are used in the United States every year. That’s more than 1,200 bags per US resident, per year.
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Garbage Patch, the largest ocean garbage site in the world. The floating mass of plastic is twice the size of Texas, with plastic pieces outnumbering sea life by a measure of 6 to 1. These floating garbage sites are impossible to fully clean up. 46 percent of plastics foat and can drift for years, before it egts concentrated in a ocean gyre. (11) The area at the Indian Ocean has developed a high concentration of plastice waste over a short time of period. Scientist believe, that this region will get worse, because of the increasing population grow.
The ocean garbage patches were discovered in 1997 by sailing Captain Charles Moore. He accidentally found the North Pacific Garbage Patch on his way back to California from a sailing race in Hawaii.
The garbage patch is made up of about 7 million tons of mostly floating plastic waste, most of which is no larger than 10mm across . The plastic articles more concentrated in the center of the ocean’s gyres. (10)
On this map you can see the five amin ocean gyres on the earth. You also can notice the clockwise ad counterclockwise currents in Northern and Southern Hemisphere.
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