Unconventional Science: Cleaning Up Plastic With Artificial Coastlines
CHAPTER ONE
A SHORE OFFSHORE With every lap of the waves more the form of tiny particles Some plastic gathers Some of it is in is larger such as a milk jug Some is larger still such as a fishing net Currents push this plastic junk around The plastic is distributed throughout the ocean But it collects in large amounts in several spots in the middle of Earth’s oceans One spot is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch Larger than the state of Texas the patch contains trillions of pieces of plastic It is located between Hawaii and California and is growing in size every day Boats can pass through parts of it Plastic pollution is a big problem in bodies of water around the world
HISTORY IN PLASTIC The Great Pacific Garbage Patch contains approximately 87,000 short tons 79,000 metric tons of plastic This material comes from all over the world A 2018 study found some of it has been there for decades Items found had 12 different countries of origin Nearly half of the material is abandoned equipment from commercial fishing boats Some came from Japan in the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami without even knowing it is there Much of the plastic consists of small particles suspended just below the surface Nowhere is the plastic nearly dense enough to stand on And it cannot be seen from space THE OCEAN CLEANUP Nearly 9 million tons of plastic ends up in Earth’s oceans each year The Ocean Cleanup aims to help reverse the damage A series of booms each 0 6 miles 1 km long floats with the ocean current Booms are long floating barriers These booms act as an artificial coastline The Ocean Cleanup’s system may be part of the solution for a cleaner ocean
