- The Great Pacific Garbage Patch spans 1.6 million square kilometres and weighs up to 88,000 tonnes
- Nearly half of the weight is abandoned fishing gear, with tsunami debris and consumer plastics also present
- Microplastics and nanoplastics from the patch become airborne, spreading globally via wind and storms
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, between Hawaii and California, is often pictured as a floating island of bottles and bags. However, the reality is far worse. According to a CNN report, the garbage has broken into fragments so small they can ride the wind. New research suggests those airborne particles aren't just a pollution problem; they may be heating the planet. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest of five offshore plastic accumulation zones. It's held in place by the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, a system of swirling currents that draws debris into a calm centre.
It's often said that it is visible from the space, but the reality is, it's not. And it's not a solid mat of trash. "The name 'Pacific Garbage Patch' has led many to believe this area is a large and continuous patch of easily visible marine debris... This is not the case," NOAA says.
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Recently, the patch was analysed by a team of scientists, with findings of the study published Monday in the journal Nature. Scientists from China and the US have studied the makeup and behaviour of these plastics and found they are contributing to global heating.
They found that like "cloudy soup," filled with microplastics smaller than a pencil eraser and nano plastics thousands of times thinner than a human hair. The patch covers 1.6 million square kilometres - three times the size of France - and weighs an estimated 79,000-88,000 tonnes,
About 46% of that weight isn't consumer plastic but abandoned fishing gear: nets, ropes, traps, and crates. Another 20% is debris from the 2011 Japanese tsunami. The rest is everyday items that broke down under the sun, waves, and salt.
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From Ocean to Atmosphere
As plastic tumbles against itself, it fragments. New studies show those fragments don't stay in the water. "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a significant source of airborne microplastics and nanoplastics," scientists reported.
Wind, waves, and even typhoons can lift particles into the sky. As per the report, a super typhoon in 2023 caused a 51% spike in nanoplastics in the atmosphere. Landfills, roadside litter, and tire wear add more. Once aloft, plastics travel the globe.
The Hidden Problem: Warming the Climate
For years, researchers assumed microplastics had little climate impact because they thought the particles were clear and reflected sunlight. The new study found something different: most airborne plastics are colored, and they darken as they age. Dark particles absorb sunlight rather than scatter it back to space.
"The net effect is warming," said Prof Drew Shindell, a climate scientist at Duke University and co-author. The team measured exactly how much heat different-colored plastics trap.
"Most microplastics research has focused on their health and environmental dangers, but this report reveals a long-overlooked link between plastic pollution and climate change," said Hongbo Fu, an atmospheric scientist at Fudan University in Shanghai.
The effect is strongest where plastic concentrates - like the GPGP - and during extreme weather. Strong winds can create atmospheric hotspots that alter regional climate patterns, though the warming may be short-lived locally.
How much plastic contributes to global heating isn't settled yet. "We need more measurements from all around the world to really characterise more precisely how much of the stuff is in the atmosphere," Shindell said. Scientists could be under- or overestimating the impact.
