All the plastic left on the planet will serve to create a new continent. However, for now, he has already created several. giant islands in the seas of the whole world. This is not a metaphor. These are large piles of plastic garbage trapped in sea eddies. created by currents. Seven of these islands of varying size have already been identified.
The waste that composes them includes everything from soda bottles to microplastics, and creates a litter soup in the sea that isn’t always confined to the surface, as it’s suspected it could also be on the seafloor underneath. waste
One of the main ecological problems of these plastic islands is, They combine with the microorganisms necessary for life in the oceans and with plankton, which is the source of the food chain.. Fish feed on these plastic particles and they end up in our kitchen. Many other marine animals also ingest larger debris.
So what and where are the 7 plastic super islands on Earth?
1. Plastic island in the Sargasso Sea
Most recently discovered in the last ten years. Located in this sea in the North Atlantic, it was found by a Greenpeace expedition to explore other large deposits of waste in the Atlantic. All sorts of easily recognizable debris could be found: shampoo bottles, fishing gear, hard containers, bags, and more. According to a study by the Ocean Cleanup organization, it was learned in 2018 that its size was much larger than expected and could be three times the size of France.
2. Plastic Island in the North Pole
It was discovered in 2013 in the Barents Sea near the Arctic Circle. This smallest plastic island It’s one of seven ever found, but still contains 300,000 million floating pieces of plastic. According to a study by Science Advances, the toxic ‘island’ in question contains 3% of all plastic trash on Earth. The remnants come from Europe and the east coast of North America and travel north along ocean currents to Norway.
3. Plastic island in the Indian Ocean
Although its existence has been assumed since 1988, its existence was officially confirmed in 2010. This island has a variable extension as it combines areas with less waste density with other more compact areas. In any case, this island has an average waste density of 10,000 per square kilometer. It can exceed 3,000 kilometers in diameter.
4. Plastic island in the South Atlantic
stretches out more than one million square kilometers and moves along the South Atlantic Current between South America and South Africa. There is not much information about it and it does not usually cross trade routes. It is estimated that it may contain 860 tons of material.
5. Plastic island in the North Atlantic
Discovered in 1972, it is estimated to have an area of about 4 million square kilometers. However, the plastic island in the North Atlantic, high waste density: up to 200,000 per square kilometer. It is guided by the North Atlantic Current and is hundreds of kilometers long.
6. Plastic Island of the South Pacific
It is found off the coasts of Chile and Peru, and eight times larger than Italy. It covers an area of approximately 2.6 million square kilometers and contains mostly pieces of microplastic material that have been eroded by time and atmospheric agents.
7. Big Plastic Island in the Pacific
It is located between the California and Hawaiian archipelagos. It moves by following the ocean current of the subtropical eddy of the North Pacific. Have more than 60 years is an old and plastic island world’s largest. Although still not fully defined, its size is enormous: It is estimated that it may cover between 700,000 square kilometers and 10 million square kilometers. Therefore, in the best case, it will occupy almost the same place as the Iberian Peninsula. Or, at worst, from the United States. The actual surface area depends on the waste density criterion used.
Maximum concentration reaches million waste per square kilometerTotal garbage ranging from 3 to 100 million tons. According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the Pacific waste island is growing so fast (it feeds on one tonne of waste a day), such that will soon be visible even from space. The existing seabed beneath this plastic island may also be covered with underwater debris. Recent research has found that about 70% of marine litter sinks to the bottom of the ocean, so only a small fraction can float.
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