Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your North Pacific Gyre shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the North Pacific Gyre offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of North Pacific Gyre at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a North Pacific Gyre? Wrong! If the North Pacific Gyre is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about North Pacific Gyre then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling North Pacific Gyre? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about North Pacific Gyre and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your North Pacific Gyre wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your North Pacific Gyre then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the North Pacific Gyre site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about North Pacific Gyre, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your North Pacific Gyre, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
The
North Pacific Gyre (also known as the
North Pacific Subtropical Gyre) is a swirling
vortex of ocean currents comprising most of the northern Pacific Ocean. It is located between the equator and 50º N latitude and occupies an area of approximately ten million square miles (34 million km²).
The North Pacific
Gyre has a clockwise circular pattern and comprises four prevailing
ocean currents: the
North Pacific Current to the north, the
California Current to the east, the
North Equatorial Current to the south, and the
Kuroshio Current to the west.
Waste
The centre of the North Pacific Gyre is relatively stationary (the area it occupies is often referred to as the
horse latitudes) and the circular rotation around it draws waste material in. This has led to the accumulation of
flotsam and other debris in huge floating 'clouds' of
waste which have taken on informal names, the
Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the
Eastern Garbage Patch or the
Pacific Trash Vortex. While historically this debris has biodegradation, the gyre is now accumulating vast quantities of
plastic and
marine debris. Rather than biodegrading, plastic photodegradation, disintegrating in the ocean into smaller and smaller pieces. These pieces, still polymers, eventually become individual molecules, which are still not easily digested. The photodegraded plastic can produce pollutants such as Polychlorinated biphenyl. The floating particles also resemble zooplankton, which can lead to them being consumed by jellyfish, thus entering the ocean food chain. In samples taken from the gyre in 2001, the mass of plastic exceeded that of zooplankton (the dominant animalian life in the area) by a factor of six.
Occasionally, shifts in the ocean currents release flotsam lost from
cargo ships into the currents around the North Pacific Gyre, leading to predictable patterns of garbage washing up on the shores around the outskirts of the gyre. The most famous was the loss of approximately 80,000
Nike, Inc. sneakers and boots from the ship
Hansa Carrier in 1990: the currents of the gyre distributed the shoes around the shores of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii over the following three years. Similar cargo spills have involved tens of thousands of
Friendly Floatees in 1992 and hockey equipment in
1994. These events have become a major source of data on global-scale ocean currents. Various institutions have asked the public to report the landfall locations of the objects (trainers, rubber ducks, etc.) that wash up as a method of tracking surface waters' response to the deeper ocean currents.
For several years ocean researcher
Charles Moore (marine researcher) has been investigating a concentration of floating plastic debris in the North Pacific Gyre. His study indicates that ocean currents have added to the mass until it is now about the size of Texas. Many of these long-lasting pieces wind up in the stomachs of marine birds and animals.
References
- UNEP: World's Largest Landfill (pdf)
- Trashed: Across the Pacific Ocean, plastics, plastics, everywhere
- ACF: Plastics in the Plankton
- CNN: How sneakers, toys and hockey gear help ocean science
- The Problem with Plastic: Waves of Junk Are Flowing Into Food Chain
- C. J. Moore, S. L. Moore, M. K. Leecaster and S. B. Weisberg (December 2001). "A Comparison of Plastic and Plankton in the North Pacific Central Gyre", Marine Pollution Bulletin 42 (12), 1297-1300.
- "Plastic trash vortex menaces Pacific sealife: study" Reuters article from 11-5-2006
- Animated Pacific trash vortex showing drift of ocean pollution
- Plastic Turning Vast Area of Ocean into Ecological Nightmare
- Oliver J. Dameron, Michael Parke, Mark A. Albins and Russell Brainard (April 2007). "Marine debris accumulation in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands: An examination of rates and processes", Marine Pollution Bulletin 54 (4), 423-433.
External links
- LA Times special Altered Oceans
- Algalita Marine Research Foundation accounts of the North Pacific Gyre
- Google video: A world of unknown plastic pollution
- Best Life Magazine: Plastic Ocean
See also
- Yellow Thing: catamaran used by Greenpeace to sample ocean garbage
- Greenpeace facts about the North Pacific Gyre
The
North Pacific Gyre (also known as the
North Pacific Subtropical Gyre) is a swirling
vortex of ocean currents comprising most of the northern Pacific Ocean. It is located between the
equator and 50º N
latitude and occupies an area of approximately ten million
square miles (34 million km²).
The North Pacific Gyre has a clockwise circular pattern and comprises four prevailing ocean currents: the
North Pacific Current to the north, the
California Current to the east, the North Equatorial Current to the south, and the
Kuroshio Current to the west.
Waste
The centre of the North Pacific Gyre is relatively stationary (the area it occupies is often referred to as the horse latitudes) and the circular rotation around it draws waste material in. This has led to the accumulation of flotsam and other debris in huge floating 'clouds' of
waste which have taken on informal names, the
Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the
Eastern Garbage Patch or the
Pacific Trash Vortex. While historically this debris has biodegradation, the gyre is now accumulating vast quantities of plastic and marine debris. Rather than biodegrading, plastic photodegradation, disintegrating in the ocean into smaller and smaller pieces. These pieces, still polymers, eventually become individual molecules, which are still not easily digested. The photodegraded plastic can produce
pollutants such as Polychlorinated biphenyl. The floating particles also resemble zooplankton, which can lead to them being consumed by jellyfish, thus entering the ocean food chain. In samples taken from the gyre in 2001, the mass of plastic exceeded that of zooplankton (the dominant animalian life in the area) by a factor of six.
Occasionally, shifts in the ocean currents release flotsam lost from
cargo ships into the currents around the North Pacific Gyre, leading to predictable patterns of garbage washing up on the shores around the outskirts of the gyre. The most famous was the loss of approximately 80,000 Nike, Inc. sneakers and boots from the ship
Hansa Carrier in
1990: the currents of the gyre distributed the shoes around the shores of
British Columbia,
Washington, Oregon, and
Hawaii over the following three years. Similar cargo spills have involved tens of thousands of
Friendly Floatees in 1992 and hockey equipment in
1994. These events have become a major source of data on global-scale ocean currents. Various institutions have asked the public to report the landfall locations of the objects (trainers, rubber ducks, etc.) that wash up as a method of tracking surface waters' response to the deeper ocean currents.
For several years ocean researcher Charles Moore (marine researcher) has been investigating a concentration of floating plastic debris in the North Pacific Gyre. His study indicates that ocean currents have added to the mass until it is now about the size of
Texas. Many of these long-lasting pieces wind up in the stomachs of marine birds and animals.
References
- UNEP: World's Largest Landfill (pdf)
- Trashed: Across the Pacific Ocean, plastics, plastics, everywhere
- ACF: Plastics in the Plankton
- CNN: How sneakers, toys and hockey gear help ocean science
- The Problem with Plastic: Waves of Junk Are Flowing Into Food Chain
- C. J. Moore, S. L. Moore, M. K. Leecaster and S. B. Weisberg (December 2001). "A Comparison of Plastic and Plankton in the North Pacific Central Gyre", Marine Pollution Bulletin 42 (12), 1297-1300.
- "Plastic trash vortex menaces Pacific sealife: study" Reuters article from 11-5-2006
- Animated Pacific trash vortex showing drift of ocean pollution
- Plastic Turning Vast Area of Ocean into Ecological Nightmare
- Oliver J. Dameron, Michael Parke, Mark A. Albins and Russell Brainard (April 2007). "Marine debris accumulation in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands: An examination of rates and processes", Marine Pollution Bulletin 54 (4), 423-433.
External links
- LA Times special Altered Oceans
- Algalita Marine Research Foundation accounts of the North Pacific Gyre
- Google video: A world of unknown plastic pollution
- Best Life Magazine: Plastic Ocean
See also
- Greenpeace facts about the North Pacific Gyre
Oceanic gyre - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A gyre is any manner of swirling vortex. It is often used to describe large-scale wind or ocean currents. Gyres are caused by the Coriolis effect: planetary vorticity along with ...
North Pacific Gyre - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The North Pacific Gyre (also known as the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre) is a swirling vortex of ocean currents comprising most of the northern Pacific Ocean.
The world's rubbish dump: a garbage tip that stretches from Hawaii to ...
He had steered his craft into the "North Pacific gyre" – a vortex where the ocean circulates slowly because of little wind and extreme high pressure systems.
Greenpeace | Pacific trash vortex showing drift of ocean pollution.
Pacific Ocean - MSN Encarta
Pacific Ocean, largest and deepest of the world’s five oceans, covering more than a third of the earth’s surface and containing more than half of its.
GT | Scientists Discover New Ocean Current
Atlanta (April 30, 2008) —Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered a new climate pattern called the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation.
A comparison of plastic and plankton in the North Pacific central gyre ...
A comparison of plastic and plankton in the North Pacific central gyre Marine Pollution Bulletin, v.42, n.12, Dec01. Charles J. Moore 1, Shelly L.
Plastic Debris Washed Ashore
Plastic Debris Washed Ashore Is this a photograph of a coastal landfill or an uninhabited beach on a island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? Beaches around the world are ...
YouTube - North Pacific Gyre
The center of the North Pacific Gyre is a relatively stationary region of the Pacific Ocean (the area it occupies is often referred to as the horse latitudes...
North Pacific Gyre - What does NPG stand for? Acronyms and ...
Acronym Definition; NPG: NASA Policies and Guidelines: NPG: NASA Procedures & Guidelines: NPG: NASA Program Guideline: NPG: National People's Gang: NPG: National Portrait Gallery ...
