The Pacific Garbage Patch Problem Solved …By a 20-year old Inventor
On a planet where everything is connected, the health of our oceans is intimately linked to social and economic well-being. About 8 million tons of plastic enters the ocean every year (Jambeck et al., 2015). Part of this accumulates in 5 areas where currents converge: the gyres. At least 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic are currently in the oceans (Eriksen et al., 2014), a third of which is concentrated in the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch (Cózar et al., 2014).
This plastic pollution will continue to inflict damage on the following in the decades to come: Environment, Economy, and Health. More at The Ocean Cleanup
There is so much research and information in the web about the Garbage Patch and we can’t really cover all of it in a short blog (and we aren’t that smart). We felt that it was crucial to get this information out as soon as possible to as many people as possible. So, we didn’t spend a lot of time writing our own article. Instead, we have attached several links that include an awesome video from Dreamforce, a non-profit division of Salesforce, that is investing tons of time and resources into Ocean conservation. It’s a great “after turkey” watch.
One of the scientists in this video is Boyan Slat, the 20-year old Dutch entepreneur and inventor who created the technology to help solve the Garbage Patch problem. He is the founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, where he is responsible for overall strategy and cleanup technology development.
Links and real scientist stuff:
The Ocean Cleanup: http://www.theoceancleanup.com
Full Wikipedia description herehttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch
.howstuffworks.com: http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/oceanography/great-pacific-garbage-patch.htm
Article from The Guardian
Smithsonian: http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-news/ocean-trash-plaguing-our-sea
Watch this video for more information on what ocean environmental leaders are doing to save our oceans:
Awesome movie to download: Shark Water http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5fObF_CCYc&sns=em
Awesome book about the ocean: The Wave
