Meghan Hodges
The North Pacific Ocean is the most polluted ocean in the world. It is home to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the largest accumulation of plastic in the open ocean, with an estimated two trillion pieces of plastic representing a third of all in-ocean plastic pollution. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is located halfway between Hawaii and California and was formed by the North Pacific Gyre, which piled up garbage between Japan and the United States. While the plastic pollution is scattered and does not form a solid mass, it is still extremely harmful to marine life and can enter the human food chain.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Most polluted ocean | North Pacific Ocean |
| Ocean with the largest amount of plastic | North Pacific |
| Amount of plastic in the North Pacific | 2 trillion pieces |
| Percentage of total plastic in the ocean that is in the North Pacific | 33% |
| Location of Great Pacific Garbage Patch | Halfway between Hawaii and California |
| Size of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch | 180 times higher than that of marine life |
| Composition of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch | Plastic bottles, bags, and millions of microplastic pieces |
| Main sources of plastic in the ocean | Rivers and fishing gear |
| Impact of plastic pollution on marine life | Entanglement, ingestion, and chemical absorption |
| Impact of plastic pollution on humans | Potential contamination of the food chain and reduction in seafood availability |
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What You'll Learn
The North Pacific is the most polluted ocean
The North Pacific Ocean is the most polluted ocean in the world. It holds an estimated two trillion pieces of plastic, which represents a third of all plastic in the ocean. The North Pacific Gyre collects garbage between Japan and the United States, forming the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of plastic in the open ocean. It is halfway between Hawaii and California and is made up of buoyant plastic that floats in the top few meters of the ocean.
The plastic in the North Pacific comes from a variety of sources. Most of the debris (80%) comes from land-based activities in North America and Asia, while 20% comes from waste thrown into the ocean by boats and ships. A significant amount of the plastic comes from fishing gear, such as nets, buoys, and traps. The durability of plastic means that once it enters the ocean, it persists for long periods and can have severe consequences for marine life.
The impact of plastic pollution on marine life is extensive. Entanglement and ingestion of plastic have impacted 914 megafaunal species, with more than 100 of these being endangered. Plastic pollution also interferes with the ocean's natural carbon cycle, potentially reducing carbon export in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by up to 13 million metric tons per year. As plastic enters the marine food web, there is a risk of contaminating the human food chain as well. Scientists have found microplastics in 114 marine species, and more than half of these are part of our regular diet.
The benefits of cleaning up the plastic pollution in the North Pacific outweigh the costs. While it is currently impossible to remove all the plastic from the ocean, efforts have been made to reduce the use of disposable plastics and promote biodegradable alternatives. The fate of the oceans seems to have been decided, and the most viable option is to minimize the amount of plastic dumped into the ocean.
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The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
The North Pacific Ocean is the most polluted ocean in the world. It is estimated that there are two trillion pieces of plastic in the North Pacific, which is around a third of all plastic in the ocean. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is the largest accumulation of plastic in the open ocean, located between Hawaii and California. It is one of five offshore plastic accumulation zones in the world's oceans and is the largest.
The GPGP is made up of the Western Garbage Patch, near Japan, and the Eastern Garbage Patch, between Hawaii and California. These areas of spinning debris are linked by the North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone, which is a few hundred kilometres north of Hawaii. The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, a large system of swirling ocean currents, surrounds the entire patch. The gyre's circular motion draws debris into its stable centre, where it becomes trapped. The gyre is formed by four currents: the California Current, the North Equatorial Current, the Kuroshio Current, and the North Pacific Current.
The GPGP is not a solid mass of plastic but is scattered throughout the top few metres of the ocean. The buoyant plastic mass is influenced by factors such as wind speed, sea state, and plastic buoyancy. The stronger, more buoyant plastics are resilient in the marine environment and can be transported over long distances, eventually accumulating in the patch. Once in the gyre, the plastic will remain until it degrades into smaller microplastics. Microplastics interfere with the ocean's natural carbon cycle and can enter the marine food web, potentially contaminating the human food chain.
Efforts to clean up the GPGP have been made by organisations such as The Ocean Cleanup, which has removed over one million pounds of trash from the patch. The Ocean Cleanup has stated that eradication of the patch is achievable within a decade and has estimated the cost to be around $7.5 billion. They have developed technology to extract plastic from ocean gyres and have conducted extensive analyses of the patch.
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Plastic entering the marine food web
The North Pacific Ocean is the most polluted ocean in the world. It contains two trillion pieces of plastic, which is around a third of all plastic in the ocean. The North Pacific Gyre, located between Japan and the United States, has caused the accumulation of plastic waste, forming the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Smaller plastic debris, such as micro- and nano-plastics, can have adverse effects on marine life due to their large surface area to volume ratio and their ability to translocate within an organism. Microplastics can also absorb toxins, which can then be transferred to the fatty tissues of organisms that ingest them. Marine organisms can mistake small plastic pieces for food, leading to issues such as suffocation, starvation, and toxic contamination. For example, turtles often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, their staple food, and fishing nets for seaweed. Seabirds are also highly affected, with an estimated one million dying each year from ingesting plastic.
Larger plastic debris can directly result in the death of larger marine organisms through entanglement, strangulation, choking, and starvation. An estimated 300,000 whales, dolphins, and porpoises die each year from entanglement in ghost fishing gear. Marine apex predators, such as great white sharks and orcas, are also at risk from the cumulative impact of microplastics in the food chain and the bioaccumulation of toxic chemicals. These chemicals can then contaminate the human food chain as well.
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Plastic from fishing activities
The North Pacific Ocean is the most polluted ocean in the world. It holds an estimated two trillion pieces of plastic, which is around a third of all plastic in the ocean. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is located in the North Pacific Gyre, between Japan and the United States.
The GPGP is largely composed of fishing-related plastic waste, with 75-86% of all plastic waste in the patch coming from offshore fishing activities. A study published in 'Scientific Reports' analysed over 6,000 plastic objects and found that the majority of fishing gear in the GPGP originates from the US, China, Japan, and the Korean Peninsula. These countries are the principal producers of the fishing waste found in the GPGP.
Fishing gear makes up 50-100% of plastic debris found in parts of the ocean. A 2019 study by The Ocean Cleanup investigated the origins, sources, and ages of plastic objects and fragments captured in the GPGP. The research found that plastic originating from fishing activities must be tackled to ensure the sustainability of cleanup efforts.
The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre is covered with tens of thousands of tonnes of floating plastic debris, dispersed over millions of square kilometres. A large fraction of this is composed of fishing nets and ropes, while the rest is mostly composed of hard plastic objects and fragments. A 2019 oceanographic mission retrieved over 6,000 hard plastic debris items larger than 5cm. The debris was analysed for evidence of origin and age, and results revealed that most of the floating material stems from fishing activities.
Industrialised fishing nations, such as China, Japan, South Korea, the USA, and Taiwan, contribute significantly to floating plastic pollution in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. These countries were identified as the most represented in field observations, with 87% of the simulated fishing effort contributing to modelled emissions into the gyre.
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Plastic pollution affecting marine life
The North Pacific Ocean is the most polluted ocean in the world. It holds an estimated two trillion pieces of plastic, which is around a third of all plastic in the ocean. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, formed by the North Pacific Gyre, is the largest accumulation of plastic in the open ocean.
Plastic pollution affects all marine ecosystems and is a major driver of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. Marine animals often mistake plastic waste for food, leading to ingestion, suffocation, and starvation. Larger plastic items can entangle marine mammals and fish, making them more vulnerable to predators. Discarded fishing nets can also smother and break coral reefs, preventing their healthy growth.
Plastic pollution also affects marine life through the release of toxic chemicals. Once plastic enters the marine food web, these toxins can contaminate the human food chain through a process called bioaccumulation. As smaller organisms are eaten by larger predators, the toxins move up the food chain, with higher concentrations found in the fatty tissues of apex predators such as orcas and great white sharks.
Microplastics, formed when plastic breaks down due to natural factors like solar radiation and wind, are a significant source of these toxins. They interfere with the ocean's natural carbon cycle and can adsorb up to one million times more toxic chemicals than the surrounding water. This toxic contamination, along with the physical harm caused by plastic debris, contributes to the death of over 100,000 marine mammals each year.
Given the widespread impact of plastic pollution on marine life, prevention and mitigation efforts are crucial. This includes reducing plastic leakage, promoting reusable and biodegradable alternatives, and supporting global initiatives to address this transboundary issue.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, the North Pacific Ocean is the most polluted ocean in the world.
The North Pacific Gyre, located between Japan and the United States, is responsible for collecting the garbage that forms the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The primary sources of pollution are land-based activities in North America and Asia (80%) and waste disposal from boats and ships (20%), with fishing nets being the most common type of waste.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of plastic in the open ocean. It is located halfway between Hawaii and California. The mass of plastics at the surface layer of the patch is around 180 times higher than that of marine life, indicating that marine organisms in this region are consuming plastic as a primary food source.
Plastic pollution in the North Pacific Ocean has severe environmental, economic, and health consequences. Marine animals such as turtles, seals, and crustaceans are harmed by entanglement and ingestion of plastic, with over 900 megafaunal species impacted, including more than 100 endangered species. Plastic pollution also affects the marine food web, with chemicals from plastics entering the bodies of animals and potentially contaminating the human food chain. The economic impact includes losses of up to $2500 billion per year in reduced ecosystem services provided by marine ecosystems.
