The health of our oceans and pollution of our water supplies is a growing concern. Do major cities such as Los Angeles contribute to the pollution of our global water supply? If so, what can we do to help turn things around for the better?
The seasonal rains of Los Angeles are familiar to every citizen of Los Angeles: A city built in the valley of a desert that only receives rain a few days out of the year. For many the rain is a blessing, and it certainly helps freshen up the city, wipe the streets of oil and remove the grime that builds up over time. We wake up the next day and feel that the city has been cleansed; a nice refreshing feeling to be sure.
But where does all that junk go?
The aqua ducts and urban runoffs of Los Angeles certainly provide a great service, however when the trash that has built up throughout the year is carried along by rain water, approximately 28,000 ton’s exits these arteries into the sea. Once there the refuse enters a great system of channels that eventually coalesces all of it into one giant amorphous blob of plastic, glass, metal, bottle caps, toys, clothes, and other discards, known as the Eastern Garbage Patch.
This island of garbage, a collective of the worlds, is thousands of miles wide, and floats in an area north of the Hawaiian Islands. The island cannot be walked on, as it consists of billions of tiny bits of throwaway parts from larger objects, up to a million pieces per square mile that have been partially broken down along the journey, parts that are the perfect size for consumption by sea animals.
There is also a Western Garbage Patch along the Eastern coast of Japan.
