Afloat in the Ocean, Expanding Islands of Trash

Today when I read the Science Times, one article in particular stuck out at me. It was titled Afloat in the Ocean, Expanding Islands of Trash. (To view the full article, click here.)

     In short, the article discussed gyres, which are areas of the ocean with very strong currents and weak winds. There are about five large gyres in the world, two or three of which are in the Pacific. Here is the astounding part: One of these gyres in the Pacific doubles in size every decade and is currently twice the size of Texas.
     The trash that swirls about these massive pools consists largely of fishing refuse, toxic chemicals, and tiny plastic shards that have been broken off of larger plastic forms. Not only are they unsightly, but they also cause health risks to any person who eats fish that have swum around in these areas.

    The final line of the article struck me: "For the captain’s first mate, Jeffery Ernst, the patch was “just a reminder that there’s nowhere that isn’t affected by humanity.” (Lindsey Hoshaw)

     Needless to say, I found this article to be, on the whole, exceedingly disturbing. I have always thought of the Pacific Ocean as an impossibly huge expanse of water, largely untouched by people.

     One of the main problems with our attitude towards the world is the fact that it has not adjusted recently enough, despite the fact that our role as a species in the world has changed significantly. In just a few hundred years, humans have filled in the corners of the map and explored and conquered most of the planet. Despite this, we still subconsciously feel like the underdogs.We seem to think that our actions make little to no impact on our surroundings.

    If we humans cannot rectify our world view, we are going to destroy our planet in a very short amount of time. Americans especially produce an excessive amount of waste per capita. This means that we are even more to blame for the havoc being wreaked on the Earth. 
    Our frontier is gone, and we now must preserve the space we have.