PACIFIC A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT THE PACIFIC OCEAN
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A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT THE PACIFIC OCEAN
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how to make a monster
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Pollution in the Pacific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Pollutions in Many Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 The Great Pacific Garbage Patch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2. where The hell am i?
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i ns i de me... 3. creatures from the black leather lagoon
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Lorem Ipsum Dolor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Sit Amet, Consectetur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 The Great Pacific Garbage Patch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4. how far can too far go? 5. cashing in
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Lorem Ipsum Dolor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Sit Amet, Consectetur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
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6. I just want something to do
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ake a MONSTE
ONE
h o w to make a m o ns ter POLLUTION IN THE PACIFIC The oceans are so vast and deep that until fairly recently, it was widely assumed that no matter how much trash and chemicals humans dumped into them, the effects would be negligible. Proponents of dumping in the oceans even had a catchphrase: “The solution to pollution is dilution”. Today, we need look no further than the thousand-mile-wide swath of decomposing plastic in the northern Pacific Ocean to see that this “dilution” policy has helped place a once flourishing ocean ecosystem on the brink of collapse.
Q: HOW LONG HAS CONTAMINATED WATER BEEN LEAKING FROM THE PLANT INTO THE PACIFIC?
SHUNICHI TANAKA, HEAD OF JAPAN’S NUCLEAR REGULATION AUTHORITY, HAS TOLD REPORTERS THAT IT’S PROBABLY BEEN HAPPENING SINCE AN EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI TOUCHED OFF THE DISASTER IN MARCH 2011. ACCORDING TO A REPORT BY THE FRENCH INSTITUTE FOR RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION AND NUCLEAR SAFETY, THAT INITIAL BREAKDOWN CAUSED “THE LARGEST SINGLE CONTRIBUTION OF RADIONUCLIDES
POLLUTIONS IN MANY FORMS There is evidence that the oceans have suffered at the hands of mankind for millennia, as far back as Roman times. But recent studies show that degradation, particularly of shoreline areas, has accelerated dramatically in the past three centuries as industrial discharge and runoff from farms and coastal cities has increased. Pollution is the introduction of harmful contaminants that are outside the norm for a given ecosystem. Common manmade pollutants that reach the ocean
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the fukushima incident
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TO THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT EVER OBSERVED.” SOME OF THAT EARLY RELEASE ACTUALLY WAS INTENTIONAL, BECAUSE TEPCO REPORTEDLY HAD TO DUMP 3 MILLION GALLONS OF WATER CONTAMINATED WITH LOW LEVELS OF RADIATION INTO THE PACIFIC TO MAKE ROOM IN ITS STORAGE PONDS FOR MORE HEAVILY CONTAMINATED WATER THAT IT NEEDED TO PUMP OUT OF THE DAMAGED REACTORS SO THAT IT COULD TRY TO GET THEM UNDER CONTROL.
include pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, detergents, oil, sewage, plas-
BUT EVEN AFTER THE IMMEDIATE CRISIS EASED, SCIENTISTS HAVE CONTINUED TO FIND RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION IN THE WATERS OFF THE PLANT.
TEPCO SAID THAT RADIATION LEVELS IN ITS GROUNDWATER OBSERVATION HOLE HAD REACHED 310 BECQUERELS PER LITER FOR CESIUM-134 AND 650 BECQUERELS PER LITER FOR CESIUM-137. THAT MARKED A 15-FOLD INCREASE AND EXCEEDED JAPAN’S PROVISIONAL EMERGENCY STANDARD OF 60 BECQUERELS PER LITER FOR CESIUM RADIATION LEVELS IN DRINKING WATER. (DRINKING WATER AT 300 BECQUERELS PER LITER WOULD BE APPROXIMATELY EQUIVALENT TO ONE YEAR’S EXPOSURE TO NATURAL BACKGROUND RADIATION, OR 10 TO 15 CHEST X-RAYS. IN A 2012 STUDY, JOTA KANDA, AN OCEANOGRAPHER AT TOKYO UNIVERSITY, CALCULATED THAT THE PLANT IS LEAKING 0.3 TERABECQUERELS (TRILLION BECQUERELS) OF CESIUM-137 PER MONTH AND A SIMILAR AMOUNT OF CESIUM-134. IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH OF THE DISASTER, ESTIMATED TO BE FROM 5,000 TO 15,000 TERABECQUERELS, ACCORDING TO BUESSELER. FOR A COMPARISON, THE ATOMIC BOMB DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA RELEASED 89 TERABECQUERELS OF CESIUM-137 WHEN IT EXPLODED.
tics, and other solids. Many of these pollutants collect at the ocean’s depths, where they are consumed by small marine organisms and introduced into the global food chain. Scientists are even discovering that pharmaceuticals ingested by humans but not fully processed by our bodies are eventually ending up in the fish we eat. Many ocean pollutants are released into the environment far upstream from coastlines. Nitrogen-rich fertilizers applied by farmers inland, for example, end up in local streams, rivers, and groundwater and are eventually deposited in estuaries, bays, and deltas. These excess nutrients can spawn massive blooms of algae that rob the water of oxygen, leaving areas where little or no marine life can exist. Scientists have counted some 400 such dead zones around the world. Solid waste like bags, foam, and other items dumped into the oceans from land or by ships at sea are frequently consumed, with often fatal effects, by
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Q: HOW MUCH AND WHAT SORT OF RADIATION IS LEAKING FROM THE PLANT INTO THE PACIFIC?
ANOTHER POTENTIAL WORRY: THE MAKEUP OF THE RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL LEAKED HAS CHANGED. THE INITIAL LEAK HAD A HIGH CONCENTRATION OF CESIUM ISOTOPES, BUT THE WATER FLOWING FROM THE PLANT INTO THE OCEAN NOW IS LIKELY TO BE PROPORTIONALLY MUCH HIGHER IN STRONTIUM-90. Q: WHY IS THE PLANT CONTINUING TO LEAK? IN AN EFFORT TO COOL AND CONTROL THE DAMAGED REACTORS, TEPCO HAS PUMPED ENORMOUS AMOUNTS OF WATER IN AND OUT. BUT THAT WATER IS CONTAMINATED WITH RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL, AND IT HAS TO GO SOMEPLACE. BUT MOST EXPERTS SEEM TO THINK THAT ORDINARY MOVEMENT OF GROUNDWATER PROBABLY IS THE REAL CULPRIT. AN ESTIMATED 400 TONS (95,860 GALLONS/ 362,870 LITERS) OF WATER STREAMS INTO THE BASEMENTS OF THE DAMAGED REACTORS EACH DAY.
marine mammals, fish, and birds that mistake it for food. Discarded fishing nets drift for years, ensnaring fish and mammals. In certain regions, ocean currents corral trillions of decomposing plastic items and other trash into gigantic, swirling garbage patches. One in the North Pacific, known as the Pacific Trash Vortex, is estimated to be the size of Texas. A new, massive patch was discovered in the Atlantic Ocean in early 2010. In addition, the Pacific Ocean has served as the crash site of satellites, including Mars 96, Fobos-Grunt, and Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite.
THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean. Marine debris is litter that ends up in oceans, seas, and other large bodies of water. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also known as the Pacific trash vortex, spans waters from the West Coast of North America to Japan. The patch is actually comprised of the Western Garbage Patch, located near Japan, and the Eastern Garbage Patch, located between the U.S. states of Hawaii and California.
The entire Great Pacific Garbage Patch is bounded by the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. 10
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These areas of spinning debris are linked together by the North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone, located a few hundred kilometers north of Hawaii. This convergence zone is where warm water from the South Pacific meets up with cooler water from the Arctic. The zone acts like a highway that moves debris from one patch to another.
The area in the center of a gyre tends to be very calm and stable. The circular motion of the gyre draws debris into this stable center, where it becomes trapped. A plastic water bottle discarded off the coast of California,
The amount of debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch accumulates because much of it is not biodegradable. Many plastics, for instance, do not wear down; they simply break into tinier and tinier pieces.
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An ocean gyre is a system of circular ocean currents formed by the Earth’s wind patterns and the forces created by the rotation of the planet. The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre is created by the interaction of the California, North Equatorial, Kuroshiro, and North Pacific currents. These four currents move in a clockwise direction around an area of 20 million square kilometers (7.7 million square miles).
for instance, takes the California Current south toward Mexico. There, it may catch the North Equatorial Current, which crosses the vast Pacific. Near the coast of Japan, the bottle may travel north on the powerful Kuroshiro Current. Finally, the bottle travels westward on the North Pacific Current. The gently rolling vortexes of the Eastern and Western Garbage Patches gradually draw in the bottle.
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