Welcome to the world’s largest garbage dump[1]
Welcome to the world’s largest garbage dump Updated: 2014-04-24 07:47 By Yang Yang Rubbish at sea not only threatens shipping and marine life, but has the potential to cause severe harm to people, reports Yang Yang Since Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing in the early hours of March 8, teams of rescue workers have been frantically searching large swaths of deep ocean to locate the Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200. How pollution affects marine life 300 million metric tons of plastic produced globally every year 6 million tons end up in the oceans 80% of waste is washed into the sea by rivers or carried out to the ocean from garbage dumps by the wind. The southern Indian Ocean contains one of the largest man-made rubbish dumps on earth - the Indian Ocean Garbage Patch - discovered by Marcus Eriksen, a US marine scientist and founder of the 5 Gyres Institute, which works to reduce pollution caused by disposable plastic. The 11 known gyres cover 40 percent of the earth's oceans, and "all five subtropical gyres have garbage patches", wrote Eriksen in an e-mail exchange with China Daily, referring to the North Pacific gyre, the South Pacific gyre, the North Atlantic gyre, the South Atlantic gyre, and the Indian Ocean gyre.
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