Concerned citizens and other agencies are doing their bit to restore ecological balance to some of the ravaged land and marine ecosystems. Sometimes these tireless efforts bear fruit and gladden our hearts, but then again we are confronted by the very enormity of the problem; the continental scale of our waste disposal problem.
It isnt just about spoilt beaches. The problem is literally far deeper. The kind of pollution human activity has caused is staggering. All sorts of things find their way into rivers, lakes, ponds and the oceans. Some of the debris accidentally find its way into the ocean, some are simply dumped there. Plastic or non-biodegradable waste is the biggest menace to marine mammals, birds, fish and marine reptiles. So much so, that huge islands of garbage have now formed in all of our major oceans.
Because of ocean currents and gyres, the waste is carried along and collects in certain areas – in the Pacific Ocean, the West Pacific and East Pacific gyres are islands of floating garbage. Plastic, chemical sludge and other debris are trapped by ocean currents and transported to an area between California and Hawaii. First identified during the 1980s, the Great Pacific Garbage patch is now as something of a Leviathan; estimated to be about 80,000 ton and growing. It is thought that this patch is bigger than Germany, Spain and France combined.
While the Great Pacific Garbage patch is the biggest, there are other garbage patches as well. The South Pacific Garbage patch is between New Zealand and the southern portion of South America. The Indian Ocean patch is located between Australia and South Africa. Additionally, there is the South Atlantic garbage patch off the coast of Africa and the North Atlantic patch off the coast of North America.
The debris large enough to be visible is of course dangerous and a terrible eyesore, but this is actually less dangerous than what experts are calling ‘microplastics’. Large objects entangle and even kill marine life, but the microscopic pieces of plastic cause even greater damage. They enter the food chain and then impact everything and everyone. Because of temperature fluctuations, the heat of the sun and marine life, the plastic breaks down into small, invisible pieces. They find their way everywhere, are mistaken for food and eaten and are well nigh impossible to cleanup.
It isn’t as if the garbage is lying in a convenient place where it can be picked up. The so called garbage patches are huge areas with lesser or larger concentrations of garbage; much of the rubbish being semi-submerged or lying on the ocean floor and the microplastics presenting the most intractable of challenges. Unlike this image of ocean debris following a tsunami, the garbage patches are diffuse.
Various voluntary and international agencies are trying to solve the problem but the scale of the problem is actually far bigger than we thought earlier. Plastic waste takes a very long time to decompose and its breakdown is even more dangerous. The scale of the problem is huge and change has to start from each one of us. The next time you unthinkingly accept a plastic bag from anyone, pause. Stop. Examine every instance of plastic use in your life and actively practice the adage recycle, reuse, reduce every single day.
Do you have something interesting you would like to share? Write to us at [email protected]
