History/Plastics

** Here are the points for my part of the outline. When researching, I found little information of the effects on society. The majority of effects happen to wildlife and people. So I decided to talk instead about plastics. Since this is the major cause and effect of this issue.

Context/Premise: History
• The Patch is a gyre of marine litter in the central North Pacific that gradually formed as a result of marine pollution gathered by oceanic currents off North America and Japan.
• Currents carry debris from the west coast of North America to the gyre in about five years, and debris from the east coast of Asia in a year or less.
• Wind-driven surface currents gradually move floating debris toward the center, trapping it in the patch.
• The Patch contains high concentrations of disintegrated plastics, chemical sludge, and other debris.
• An estimated 80% of the garbage comes from land-based sources, and 20% from ships.


Plastic:
• Each person produces 1500 pounds of garbage a year, 10% will end up in the ocean. The ocean is the last stop for all littered waste.
• Garbage biodegrades, but plastics polymers do not. Photodegradation breaks down plastics into smaller pieces, but these pieces will never go away.
• Plastics contain Bisphenol A, which leaks out when immersed in water. Bisphenol A leads to multiple health risks including infertility.
• Plastics can be recycled.