The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Imagine if every person on earth was given 45kg / 100 pounds of plastic (that’s the equivalent of how much new plastic will be manufactured in 2010)...and told to go to their nearest stream, river, beach or stormwater drain...and dump it there.
A shocking thought...yet that's essentially what's happening right now, every single day. A large percentage of the world's plastic ends up swept out into the oceans, and eventually swirled together within a massive area dubbed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. I blogged about this in Oct.2009 but, as a lot of people hit this site for details about it, I'm happy to provide more info...
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch represents an environmental disaster for the oceans, far worse than a ruptured oil tanker! When sampled in 2001, the Patch yielded 3kg / 6lbs of plastic for every 500gm / 1lb. of plankton in the water - a 6:1 ratio of waste over life! That figure will be worse now...
The patch is not stationery, but sometimes drifts into landmasses which have begun to resemble landfills. It moves slowly clockwise, creating a lazy whirlpool that draws in garbage from other parts of the ocean. Most of that debris is plastic, which is not biodegradable. Organic material and debris from other sources eventually break down but plastics don't, although they do break into smaller and smaller pieces.
The environmental risks posed by the Patch are huge. The area supports minimal marine life, because the garbage patch restricts the limited area of water in which photosynthetic organisms can live. Other marine life including birds, mammals, fish, and jellyfish also suffer because they mistake the garbage for food. The garbage also carries a hidden payload: oily toxins accumulating in the floating plastic. These toxins are absorbed and concentrated by the plastics, which are in turn eaten by unwitting animals.
Some scientists fear that increased knowledge about the issue is coming too late, as clean-up of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch may be impossible. The issue highlights the growing problem of ocean rubbish: possibly the only solution now is for consumers - us...you and me - to reduce the amount of rubbish we create, and recycle wherever possible.
Here's a [link] to a recent 10-minute video about the marine research organisation Algalita...and a [link] to a report on Good Morning America. Please share with others...