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Lebreton, L., Slat, B., Ferrari, F., Sainte-Rose, B., Aitken, J., Marthouse, R., Hajbane, S., Cunsolo, S., Schwarz, A., Levivier, A., Noble, K., Debeljak, P., Maral, H., Schoeneich-Argent, R., Brambini, R., & Reisser, J. (2018). Evidence that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is rapidly accumulating plastic. Scientific Reports, 8(1), 4666–15. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-22939-w

A zone responsible for a large mass of plastic material created by humans is exponentially accumulating in the eastern part of the pacific ocean’s subtropical gyre. The area is referred to as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), and its subtropic is located in-between California and Hawaii. It is estimated that 79-thousands tonnes of plastic are floating within the GPGP's 1.6 million kilometer quared radius, deeming its uppermost layer to consist of buoyant plastic. By using methods of sea surface trawls this study was able to determine four size classes of plastics within the GPGP which include; micro-plastic (0.05-0.5cm), meso-plastic (0.5-5cm), macro-plastic (5-50cm), and mega-plastic (50cm+). This study shows that the GPGP consists of approximately 1.7 trillion pieces of plastic, of which the two most recorded types are polyethylene and polypropylene. Some plastic inputs here host plastic products manufactured from the late 1970s. Eighty-seven percent of the plastic pollution in the GPGP is composed of marine-based sources such as nets, traps, and floats, likely due to their purposefully engineered durability to withstand water. The GPGP is considered to as a gyre within a gyre resulting in an extremely powerful plastic sink attracting only plastics that have a specific small surface area to volume ratio exclusively able to persist at sea for extended periods. The GPGP's powerful gyre currents produce a plastic inflow much greater than its plastic outflow, which concludes why plastic accumulation here is occurring at a faster rate than in other surrounding waters. Harse, G. A. (2011, Fall). Plastic, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and international misfires at a cure. UCLA Journal of Environmental Law & Policy, 29(2), 331+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A275850978/AONE?u=guel77241&sid=AONE&xid=6538d6e0

There are many international rules and regulations currently implemented to attempt some way of regulating the ongoing growth of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP). Nations are struggling to find a set solution on how to clean up the GPGP simply because there is no easy resolution to this issue. Plastic, overtime breaks down into individual polymer molecules resulting in trillions of micro-plastic bits floating around in the ocean. To simply just vacuum up the GPGP is described by governing nations as not feasible. The GPGP, the size of a continent measuring its upper most buoyant layer of plastic 30M deep, smothers areas of water native to plankton and is also a n area of high toxic chemical concentration. These chemicals categorized as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are known for disturbing hormone transfers in humans, damaging the environment, and causing biomagnification in the food chain. This is concerning because high amounts of bisphenol A (BPA), and phthalates, two types of EDCs, can be found in water regions of western Europe, Japan, and the USA common to the GPGP. Over 250 species of wildlife are recorded to have been affected by the GPGPs accumulation of plastic, weather it be by ingestion of the material or by entanglement. The massive accumulation of human related plastic pollution in GPGP has a potentially irreversible effect on the resources provided by the ocean water substantial for sustaining all forms of life.

Synthesis Over production of plastic caused by humans has resulted in mass pollution of the Pacific Ocean accumulating in areas like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) with some of its earliest evidence of origin dating back to the late 1970s. This issue has the potential to create irreversible effects on resources provided by the ocean’s waters crucial to sustaining all life forms on earth. The GPGP is 1.6 million kilometers squared, and its upper most buoyant layer of plastic reaches 30 meters in depth, indicating that this environmental issue is a severe one. Plastic in this region is polluting ocean waters with harmful endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as bisphenol A (BPA), and phthalate of which are two commonly used chemicals in manufactured plastic like polyethylene and polypropylene. Water currents and other natural phenomenon’s have dispersed large amounts of these toxic chemicals to costal regions surrounding the GPGP including Japan, Western Europe, and the USA. This is a serious concern especially because these chemicals have negative effects on humans, environment, and wildlife. The GPGP is described as a gyre within a gyre implying that it inputs more plastic than its outputs. This suggests the mass of accumulation is only going to get exponentially bigger if a solution to halt its plastic inflow is not developed quickly. The GPGP consists of approximately 1.7 trillion pieces of plastic. International efforts attempting ways to resolve this problem are experiencing negative governance because vacuuming up this huge mess is virtually impossible, and cleanup would be expensive. However, plastic accumulation in the GPGP and other areas of the ocean is a threat to the environment, humans, water quality, and its resources. If nations do not work together to find a solution to this life-threatening issue, its effects on our earth will be devastatingly irreversible....