top of page
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
GPGP is the largest and its estimated surface is about 1.6 million square kilometers, an area twice the size of Texas or three times the size of France according to the Scientific Reports 8 “Evidence that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is rapidly accumulating plastic”. However, we cannot exactly estimate the amount of trash because most plastics break down into particles as time flows.
The animation shows how trash enters the sea from land along the Pacific coast is caught by the gyre. On its way, the trash is concentrated and eventually ends up in one of the two shown vortices. As a consequence, in these areas, the surface water contains more plastics than other areas.
bottom of page