Journalist, angela sun has created an insightful environmental documentary that shines a spotlight on the problems that our society has. The film is currently in postproduction but heres a look at its heartbreaking trailer. And yet its become ground zero for the great pacific garbage patch, syphoning plastics from. The great pacific garbage patch explained research the. Here is a worksheet for you to test your knowledge about the great pacific garbage patch. Plastic paradise movie independent documentary by angela sun. Whilst the introduction of a charge for plastic shopping bags was met with groans of annoyance, plastic paradise. The great pacific garbage patch is not, as popularly portrayed, a solid mass of floating waste somewhere in the middle of the ocean. Check out a spectacular video below filmed at the midway atoll in the middle of the pacific ocean, showing the effects of manmade garbage on where they live, 1,200 miles away from civilization. Andres cozar of the university of cadiz in spain is the man who once extrapolated the 1 millionton estimate. That would be the great pacific garbage patchthe enormous collection of. The great pacific garbage patch is a great showcase as to why the discouragement of unnecessary over consumption of these types of goods is needed. Journalist angela sun offers new insights on the damage that modern technology is doing to the planet. In the early 21st century, rumors about an island of garbage somewhere in the paci.
A team of scientists set out to study a massive accumulation of plastic in the pacific ocean known as the great pacific garbage patch. The exact size, content, and location of the garbage patches are difficult to accurately. Marine debris concentrates in various regions of the north pacific, not just in one area. The great pacific garbage patch is a collection of marine debris in the north pacific ocean. The great lakes have more garbage per square inch than the. In this independent documentary film, journalistfilmmaker angela sun travels on a personal journey of discovery to uncover. Plastic, ahoy investigating the great pacific garbage patch by patricia newman, with photography by annie crawley, is a childrens non fiction book about a scientific expedition known as seaplex. Marine debris is litter that ends up in oceans, seas, and other large bodies of water. The patch is actually comprised of the western garbage patch, located near japan. The great pacific garbage patch is more than just one big collection of debris. Garbage patches are large areas of marine debris concentration that are formed by rotating ocean currents called gyres kind of like big whirlpools that suck things in.
According to the report from the guardian, the dense heart of the garbage patch is thought to be around 1 million square kilometers 386,000 square miles in size with the periphery extending 3. If it were, developers might well be selling beachfront homes, promoting it as an exciting opportunity to live on a brandnew, manmade island. And yet its become ground zero for the great pacific garbage patch, siphoning plastics from three distant continents. See more ideas about ocean pollution, great pacific garbage patch and garbage in the. In this episode, dianna parker from the noaa marine debris program explains what a garbage patch is and isnt, what we know and dont know, and what we can do about this oceansized problem. Rather, the great pacific garbage patch is more like a swirling. Designed and animated by ben segall written by kyoung kim and ben segall narrated by olivia sandoval sound design by loren esposito original score composed by mathew. Because microplastics are smaller than a pencil eraser, they are not immediately noticeable to the naked eye. This films producer joins an expedition to the great pacific garbage patch to investigate the extent of plastic. There is a western garbage patch and an eastern garbage page, with more floating debris located along the subtropical convergence zone.
Great pacific garbage patch, a zone in the pacific ocean between hawaii and california that has a high concentration of plastic waste. There is over 260,000 tonnes of plastic, and in some places theres so much rubbish that you could walk on it. The 14th annual san diego asian film festival 20 november 716 plastic paradise. How can i travel to the great pacific garbage patch. The great pacific garbage patch is one of many areas in the ocean where marine debris naturally concentrates because of ocean currents. How we made the great pacific garbage patch the documentary plastic paradise explains how this consumerdriven catastrophe is destroying the oceans and how we can fix it. Great pacific garbage patch national geographic society. The great pacific garbage patch is a huge mass of rubbish, or trash vortex, held in place in the northeast of the pacific ocean by swirling underwater currents. The great pacific garbage patch started, i thought i would be learning about the great garbage patch, an area of the pacific ocean filled with plastic and other waste approximately the size of texas, but it really taught that plastics are everywhere. It is located halfway between hawaii and california. Director angela sun starring angela sun genres documentary subtitles. Its more like pepper flakes swirling in a soup than something you can skim off the surface. How we made the great pacific garbage patch mnn mother.
Ignore the photos that you think show the great pacific garbage patch. Great pacific garbage patch now three times the size of. The great pacific garbage patch a team from the sea education association collected almost 70,000 pieces of plastic in the swirling waters in the northern part of the pacific ocean. A huge, swirling pile of rubbish in the pacific ocean is growing faster than expected and is now three times the size of france, researchers say. Vice sails to the north pacific gyre, collecting point for all of the oceans flotsam and home of the great pacific garbage patch. These plastic materials trap aquatic life and poison them by physical blockage or as carriers of toxic pollutants. The great pacific garbage patch is big, getting bigger. The problem relates to materials science and the advent of. Angela sun talks about the great pacific garbage patch. Journalistfilmmaker angela sun travels on a personal journey of discovery to uncover the mysterious phenomenon of the great pacific garbage patch. Along the way she encounters scientists, industry, legislators and activists who shed light on what our societys vast consumption of disposable.
For noaa, a national science agency, separating science from science fiction about the pacific garbage patch. The extent of the patch has been compared to the u. The great pacific garbage patch gpgp is the largest of the five offshore plastic accumulation zones in the worlds oceans. A garbage patch is made up of tiny plastic pieces called microplastics that are less than 5 millimeters long. We recently wrote about midway, a film that also focuses on the midway atoll. In recent years, there has been a lot of misinformation spread about garbage patches and so now, we are here to try to clear up some of these myths. Albatross birds are dying, in huge numbers from mistaking our garbage for food. While great pacific garbage patch is a term often used by the media, it does not paint an accurate picture of the marine debris problem in the north pacific ocean. Halfway between austrailia and hawaii in the middle of a seemingly endless pacific ocean we find a chain of islands that together form the nation of the.
The great pacific garbage patch denver public schools. In this independent documentary film, journalistfilmmaker angela sun travels on a personal journey of discovery to uncover this mysterious phenomenon. The swirling mass of plastic soup in the pacific ocean, known by a handful of names the great pacific garbage patch, north pacific gyre, trash vortex, and plastic graveyard among them. The patch is actually comprised of the western garbage patch, located near japan, and the eastern garbage patch, located between the u. Angela suns journey of discovery to one of the most remote places on earth, midway atoll, to uncover the truth behind the mystery of the great pacific garbage patch. Top 4 netflix documentaries about saving our oceans keep.
The great pacific garbage patch is even bigger than we. The garbage patch is actually two islands of trash that are together, called the great pacific garbage patch. A close look at the great pacific garbage patch the. The current of the oceans allows for the gyre to pull in debris from all over the world. It is estimated that the patch is twice the size of the state of texas. The great pacific garbage patch is in the pacific ocean between hawaii and california. The great lakes have more garbage per square inch than the great pacific garbage patch huge concentrations of small plastic pellets were found in the great lakes. Plastic paradise, a documentary about the great pacific. Plastic, ahoy investigating the great pacific garbage patch. The great pacific garbage patch is the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world and is located between hawaii and california. And yet its become ground zero for the great pacific garbage patch, syphoning plastics from three distant continents. This swirling soup of trash up to 10 meters deep and just below the water surface is composed mainly of nondegradable plastics.
Now you know exactly what the great pacific garbage patch is, so when it comes up in news stories, saying it is growing faster than we estimated in 1970, you are more informed about how this happens. They exist all throughout the ocean, and the pacific garbage patch just happens to be the most famous. Watch these documentaries about plastic pollution international. The great pacific garbage patch, also described as the pacific trash vortex, is a gyre of marine debris particles in the northcentral pacific ocean. Great pacific garbage patch is now three times the size of france, research suggests researchers have known since 1997 that a massive patch of. The great pacific garbage patch, also known as the pacific trash vortex, spans waters from the west coast of north america to japan. The great pacific garbage patch is an upcoming independent documentary film by docujournalist angela sun that focuses on the ecoissue of the great pacific garbage patch at the midway atoll. There are three main parts of the documentary that i want to discuss. The great pacific garbage patch is the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world and is. The great pacific garbage patch lesson teachengineering. The great pacific garbage patch is pretty much what it sounds like. The collection of plastic and floating trash originates from the pacific rim, including countries in asia, north america, and south america.
These areas of spinning debris collect anything that may be dumped in the water and carried by currents to a central gyre where. Its not a floating island of trash, like a garbage dump or a landfill. The great pacific garbage patch doesnt exist, not in the sense you are thinking. Plastic paradise is an independent documentary film that chronicles angela suns personal journey of discovery to one of the most remote places on earth, midway atoll, to uncover the truth behind the mystery of the great pacific garbage patch. This article examines the great pacific garbage patch in a tale for the time. Angela sun reveals the effects of our rabid plastic consumption as she investigates the great pacific garbage patch. Humans often believe that the great pacific garbage patch does not affect the humans very much because the garbage patch is located in the center of the pacific ocean thousands f kilometers away from the coasts. Charles moore of the algalita marine research foundation first discovered the great pacific garbage patch an endless floating waste of plastic trash.
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