The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is an intriguing and publicized environmental problem. This swirling soup of trash up to 10 meters deep and just below the water surface is composed mainly of non-degradable plastics. These plastic materials trap aquatic life and poison them by physical blockage or as carriers of toxic pollutants. The problem relates to materials science and the advent of plastics in modern life, an example of the unintended consequences of technology. Through exploring this complex issue, students gain insight into aspects of chemistry, oceanography, fluids, environmental science, life science and even international policy. As part of the GIS unit, the topic is a source of content for students to create interesting maps communicating something that they will likely begin to care about as they learn more.
Figure 1. This circulation schematic of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch shows two larger regions of trash, one eastern and one western.Copyright 2010 Marine Debris Program, Office of Response and Restoration, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/info/patch.html#acknow
As with many concepts related to our environment, it is engineers that have enabled the mass application of technology that can influence natural environments such as the global oceans. It is fortunate, however, that it is also engineers that can help solve these problems. In the case of the GPGP (see Figure 1), environmental engineers and scientists help characterize toxicity of these plastics and formulate understanding about their fate and transport. Also, the engineering field has developed and will continue to develop products that do what plastics can do but without the negative consequences (for example, bioplastics) seen at the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- Explain in a general sense the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP).
- Describe how the GPGP is formed.
- Explain their relationship to the GPGP and their potential for shared fault.
- Describe how the consumption of goods can result in environmental degradation.
- Describe how plastics are created and explain why it is that some plastics are so resistant to degradation in the ocean.
- Name two or three major environmental impacts of the GPGP and brainstorm solutions to solve related problems.
- Explain how environmental engineers could apply knowledge to try to solve this problem.