User:Sjwagne1/North Atlantic garbage patch

Location and size[edit]
The patch is located from 22°N to 38°N and its western and eastern boundaries are unclear. The debris zone shifts by as much as 1,600 km (990 mi) north and south seasonally, and drifts even farther south during the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, according to the NOAA. The patch is estimated to be hundreds of kilometers across in size, with a density of more than 200,000 pieces of debris per square kilometer (one piece per five square meters, on average). The concentration of plastic in the North Atlantic garbage patch has stayed mostly constant even though the global plastic production has had a five-fold increase over the 22-year study. This may be caused by the plastics sinking beneath the surface or breaking down into smaller pieces that can pass through the net. '''Because of this, it is thought that the size of the North Atlantic Garbage Patch could be an underestimate. It is likely that when the microplastics are taken into account, the patch could be as large as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch'''. Added!!

Research
* this is an additional paragraph to add to the current research section

'''A recent study published in December 2022 investigated the microbial communities found in the North Atlantic Garbage Patch and compared the data to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Researchers collected plastic debris from the garbage patch in 2019 and analyzed the microbes using 16S rRNA gene analysis. The microbes that were identified and the communities they formed were deemed the plastisphere of the garbage patch. Microbes were typically found on polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) particles. Because of this, the researchers also investigated the potential of the microbes to degrade the plastic and potentially contribute to decreasing the garbage patches. Based on the microbes identified, only 4.07% were members of genera that could degrade the plastics found in the garbage patch. Along with that, the bacteria were only known to degrade PE and not PP. The researchers concluded that more investigation is needed to find a natural way to combat the accumulation of plastic in the garbage patch'''. Added!!!

Negative Effects
Since a large amount of plastic in the North Atlantic Garbage Patch is in the form of microplastics, it is easier for marine animals to ingest them. These small plastics can be mistaken for fish eggs. Along with that, the smaller pieces of microplastics can be ingested by animals that are towards the bottom of the food chain such as zooplankton. The plastic that accumulates in the zooplankton then builds up inside the organisms that eat them. There has been little to no research on how microplastics can move up the food chain and potentially be magnified in larger organisms. However, it is predicted that the biomagnification of plastics in the food web will depend on how much plastic is ingested and retained, with retention being heavily dependent on the size of the plastic ingested. This accumulation and potential biomagnification of plastic can lead to malnourished organisms and can be a threat to the biodiversity of the ocean. Along with that, the accumulation of microplastics in marine life can be transferred to humans when they consume contaminated organisms which could cause adverse health effects.

A recent study conducted by The Ocean Cleanup and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research found that the levels of microplastics on the surface of the North Atlantic Garbage Patch are close to exceeding safe levels for sea life in the region. While the exact consequences of this are unknown, the researchers claim there could be significant adverse effects on marine life if something is not done to combat the issue. Another study conducted in 2021 looked at the accumulation of chemicals and plastics in species that are in the middle of the food web in the North Atlantic. These species included Sardina pilchardus (sardines), Scomber spp., and Trachurus trachurus (mackerels). They found that while the concentrations of several chemicals inside the fish were lower than what is found in the same species in adjacent areas, they found that there were plastic pieces in the stomachs of 29% of the sampled organisms.