Pacific garbage patch spans 1.6 million sq km as fishing gear dominates debris
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a massive accumulation of marine debris, covers 1.6 million square kilometers between Hawaii and California. Scientific research indicates that the patch is primarily composed of discarded fishing gear and microplastics originating from major North Pacific fishing nations.
Why it matters
The scale of the garbage patch highlights the severe environmental impact of industrial fishing and global plastic pollution on marine ecosystems.
A floating and rotating 'garbage island' of an estimated area of 1.6 million square kilometres lies between Hawaii and California, according to a scientific estimate published in 2018. The area of the island is said to be larger than Para and nearly three times the size of metropolitan France. What exists here is a plastic world consisting of nets, ropes, buoys, containers, fragments and a massive amount of microplastics.The garbage islandWhile called an island, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is not a continent made up of waste. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the debris is scattered across a vast stretch of the surface and the top of the water column in concentrations that differ based upon lookout points. Thus, a vessel may traverse part of this region and find little visible debris.
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