The oceans are an important part of the ecosystem of our planet, acting as a source of biological, mineral and energy resources.  The global problem of the modern world has become a garbage island in the Pacific Ocean.

 The scale of pollution of the oceans

 Pollution of the oceans and changes in its ecology are a threat to all mankind.  Mismanagement of human practices exacerbates the already critical situation in the aquatic ecosystem.  Every day, tons of harmful pollutants enter the oceans: chemical industry waste, gasoline, pesticides, mercury, nitrates, fertilizers, and radioactive substances.  The greatest danger is represented by oil and products of its processing.  The Persian Gulf alone produces hundreds of millions of tons of oil per year, providing 30 percent of the world's demand for it.

 Sources of pollution

 The main sources of pollution are:

 1. Oil.  In the process of extraction from the sea shelf, part of it enters directly into the ocean waters.  Accidents on pipelines laid on the ocean floor, collisions of tankers and damage to oil platforms lead to the formation of a film on the surface of the water.  According to estimates, from 5 to 15 tons of oil enters the ocean waters every year, taking into account its natural outpourings from the ocean floor.

 2. Heavy metals.  Millions of tons of iron, copper, zinc, lead, mercury annually enter the waters with sewage discharges from enterprises, a little - with atmospheric precipitation.

 3. Waste water.  The situation is aggravated by wastewater from industrial enterprises and domestic sewage discharged into the ocean.  The use of synthetic detergents ultimately also leads to pollution of the oceans.

 4. Plastic.  Unrecycled plastic waste emits toxic substances and has a detrimental effect on underwater inhabitants.

 5. Pesticides.  Fertilizers used in agriculture end up in the ocean along with river and rain runoff from fields.

 6. Disposal of industrial and radiation waste on the ocean floor.  The dirtiest ocean

 The Atlantic Ocean occupies a leading position in terms of pollution.  The Mediterranean Sea was especially affected, in particular, in the area of ​​the coasts of Spain, France and Italy.  By now, several garbage patches have already formed on the surface of the ocean, replenished from year to year with waste brought by many small currents.

 It would be natural to assume that the Indian Ocean, into whose waters no less plastic is dumped annually, is able to compete with the Atlantic in terms of pollution.  However, the difficulties in tracking floating rubbish caused by strong currents, the studies of which were carried out by ecologists and scientists around the world, made it possible to establish the places of its greatest accumulation.  One of them is the Bay of Bengal.  Due to differences in the bottom landscape and atmospheric conditions, the "islands" here have a slightly different formation mechanism.

 Garbage Continent: discovery, area, location

 In the Pacific North between California and Hawaii is the largest garbage island, the so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch (Great Pacific Garbage Patch).  Today, its area is about 1600 thousand km2 (two territories of France), although the true size of the scientific community is unknown - the island is not visible from the satellite.  It is sometimes referred to as the Eastern Garbage Continent.

 How did the garbage patch form?

 There are 5 largest whirlpools in the World Ocean.  In the middle of each of them there is no current, the water is in a relatively calm state.  There is concentrated debris drifting on the water, ending up in a kind of trap.  The total weight of the entire dump floating on the oceans is about 5 billion tons.

 A photo of a garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean shows that it is 90% unrecycled plastic.

 According to scientists, the main role in its formation was played by the washout of garbage dumps from the banks of rivers and seas.  In particular, most of the dirt comes from the Asian continent.  China and Indonesia are not far behind: 2/3 of all floating plastic waste is in these countries.  The uncontrolled dumping of toxic and municipal solid waste from ships exacerbates the situation.  Scientists track how the garbage patch in the ocean is changing, using photos from space and conducting annual expeditions to this global garbage dump.

 All giant accumulations of garbage float on the surface of the water, forming the so-called island, and are constantly growing, fueled by new floating dumps.  Pictures taken from the aircraft make it possible to record changes and predict the scale of the disaster.