The Ocean and the great garbage patch: What can we do to alleviate it?

The Ocean and the great garbage patch: What can we do to alleviate it?

EXPO 2020 has a strong theme of sustainability and is a chance for all nations of the world to come together and showcase how we can ensure a sustainable future for everyone. We are historically a seafaring nation. Emiratis have long held a close association, even love, for our ocean, and the flora and fauna within. From being a key location in global maritime trading routes, to our pearl fishing ancestors, the ocean has played a key role in the national psyche. That’s why I’m saddened to recently read about what has been called The Great Pacific Garbage Patch – and other “garbage patches” which are basically concentrations of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean. Over 5 trillion pieces of plastic currently litter the ocean. The biggest lies between California and Hawaii. And the problem isn’t only halting the source of these patches but cleaning them up too. Seaspiracy, the popular Netflix documentary about the fishing industry – and the damage we are doing to the ocean – got a great deal of press, but also got a few things wrong. For the sake of my own peace of mind, I’ve been looking into the garbage patch, but I