Can The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Ever Be Tamed?
For more than a decade, scientists and activists have been searching for a solution to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch — a massive swatch of the ocean that is covered in more than 3.5 million tons of garbage. The area covered by the debris is so vast that it is roughly the size of the continental United States. The garbage is pulled to its watery dump by ocean currents and then floats just below the surface — wreaking havoc on marine life. Ocean experts are now launching a huge push to clean up the patch, and Time magazine reports that they are focusing on two methods: There’s no perfect way to fish it all out of the ocean, especially not without harming ocean creatures in the process. But the crew tested several possible methods. Some were active, involving the dragging of nets to trap and concentrate the trash to be collected. Others were passive, consisting of large floating receptacles placed near highly concentrated areas and then picked up later to dispose of its contents back
