Great Pacific Garbage Patch

12 Nov 2024 14:45:43 pm

Tags : Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Topic: Pollution

Why in the news?

Kia Corporation has launched the world\'s first car accessory made from plastic sourced from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
This limited-edition trunk liner for the all-new Kia EV3 is part of Kia\'s partnership with The Ocean Cleanup. The initiative aims to promote environmental stewardship and increase the use of recycled materials in automotive production.

Source: Times Now

About Great Pacific Garbage Patch:

It is a garbage patch, a gyre of marine debris particles, in the central North Pacific Ocean.
The collection of plastic and floating trash originates from the Pacific Rim, including countries in Asia, North America, and South America.
Formation:
- There are some water currents in the oceans that, driven by winds and the Coriolis force, form loops. These are called gyres. The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG) is one such, located just north of the equator in the Pacific Ocean.
- NPSG consists of the Kuroshio, North Pacific, California, and North Equatorial currents. It moves in a clockwise direction.
- These currents flow adjacent to 51 Pacific Rim countries. Any trash that enters one of these currents, from any of these countries, could become part of the gyre.
- Inside this gyre, just north of Hawai’i, lies a long east-west strip where some of the debris in these currents has collected over the years. The eastern part of this is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is 6 million sq. km big and more than 50 years old.
It contains an estimated 45,000-1,29,000 metric tonnes of plastic, predominantly in the form of microplastics.
- The numerical density of plastics here is around 4 particles per cubic meter.