Great Pacific Garbage Patch: Tanya Plibersek’s concerns about floating plastic island 3 times France

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is getting bigger every year and unless Australia takes action now, the amount of plastic entering the ocean will triple by 2040.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek issued an urgent warning about plastic pollution in parliament this week amid furious debates over energy bills, artificial intelligence and migration.

Ms Plibersek told Daily Mail Australia that it is a critical time for our environment and action must be taken now to address the country’s contribution to the world’s plastic crisis.

“If we don’t… the amount of plastic entering the ocean will triple by 2040 and the plastic in the ocean will outweigh the fish by 2050,” she said.

Referring to the famous Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Ms Plibersek said there is a “floating island of plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean” that has a “massive impact on wildlife”.

This is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch: growing year after year and nearly impossible to repair

That island is three times the size of France, twice the size of Texas and 1294 times the size of the Daintree Rainforest in Queensland.

The island is three times the size of France, twice the size of Texas and 1294 times the size of the Daintree Rainforest in Queensland.

Some call it the “Pacific trash vortex” because the tidal currents keep humanity’s plastic waste in one place—circling endlessly in a 1.6 million square mile stretch of ocean between California and Hawaii.

“Seabirds and marine animals such as turtles starve because their guts are full of plastic or suffocate or drown when they become entangled in plastic waste such as discarded fishing nets,” she said.

Although there are larger items such as buoys, plastic bags, ropes and bottles among the clutter, the patch consists mainly of microplastics that do not break.

Dramatic photos show endless amounts of rubbish accumulating in one area and wildlife entangled in nets unable to escape.

It’s impossible to determine exactly how much debris the Great Pacific Garbage Patch actually forms because it’s too big to drag.

In addition, oceanographers believe that up to 70 percent of the debris actually sinks to the ocean floor, meaning what we can see is probably just the tip of the iceberg.

The patch was first discovered in 1997 by sailor Charles Moore. He was determined that by beginning to clean up the patch, he would “bankrupt” any nation that tried.

A 2015 study found that much of the debris comes from China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Philippines.

And more recently, it was discovered that an ecosystem of animal species lives in the garbage vortex.

Although there are larger items such as buoys, plastic bags, ropes and bottles among the clutter, it is mainly made up of microplastics that do not break down

Dramatic photos show endless amounts of rubbish accumulating in one area and wildlife entangled in nets unable to escape

Oceanographers believe that up to 70 percent of the debris actually sinks to the ocean floor, meaning what we can see is probably just the tip of the iceberg

These species include jellyfish and sponges, which has raised concerns about possible cleanups.

Ms Plibersek expressed concern about concerns closer to home, noting that World Heritage-listed Lord Howe Island – which belongs to her own constituency – is at increasing risk of plastic pollution.

‘Seabirds swallow bottle caps, clothes pegs and pen lids. Scientists have found dead chicks with 200 pieces of plastic in their digestive systems,” she said.

‘Every year, lost or abandoned fishing gear drifts into Australia’s northern waters.’

These nets can span six kilometers and weigh more than 10 tons, while still covering great distances across oceans with the tides and currents.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek had a new name for it when she raised the issue in parliament on Tuesday; the floating island of plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean

That island is three times the size of France, twice the size of Texas and 1294 times the size of the Daintree Rainforest in Queensland.

Ms Plibersek said she hopes to see a ‘plastic-free Pacific’ in her lifetime and is negotiating a global plastic treaty to end pollution by 2040.

She told parliament ‘microplastics [are] appear in the human bloodstream, in organs, in breast milk and in the placenta.

‘The average Australian ingests about the value of a credit card’s worth of plastic per week. There is a floating island of plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean.’

Labor has invested $15 million to clean up the ocean’s pollution, with 195 ghost nets and 50,000 kg of rubbish removed from the Gulf of Carpentaria so far.

A further $250 million has been invested to create 48 new plastic recycling facilities to nearly double capacity in Australia.