Written in eleventh grade, probably for Earth Science. I can't tell if this is the finished version or not but it's the file I found.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
By C. Randall Nicholson
As the dominant species of planet Earth, humans have quite an effect on it whether they like to or not. This effect stems not only from the things they collectively do intentionally, but also from their errors or simple oversights. Many negative things have happened over the years because of them, and often by the time a problem is recognized, it is huge and fixing it is easier said than done. One of these massive and seemingly insurmountable problems is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a conglomeration of plastic debris, chemical sludge, and other trash that is carelessly disposed of by humans and makes its way into the ocean. There, currents carry it all to relatively the same spot, between 135° to 155° west and 35° to 42° north - the "horse latitudes" where the wind is practically dead. The exact size of the resulting island of garbage has not been determined but estimates range from twice the size of Texas to larger than the continental United States. Measuring is difficult because no one has set a specific standard for how much density of garbage is required to be considered a part of it and how little is just random flotsam that you'd expect in an ocean. Matters are complicated even further by the fact that satellites cannot see it, due to the majority of the plastics having already broken down into polymers.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published a paper predicting the Garbage Patch's existence in 1988. Alaska-based researchers in the Sea of Japan had noted the correlation between ocean currents and gatherings of plastic. They pointed where the currents elsewhere in the North Pacific would be most favorable to large gatherings. However, they were not proven correct for eleven years, until the Patch was officially discovered in 1997 by Charles J. Moore. Moore was returning home from the Transpac Sailing Race when he stumbled across a vast field of marine garbage. The discovery was made official by oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer. It was a sensational discovery, but an alarming one, and what no one knew at first was that while the garbage itself was bad enough, most of the Patch is actually made of the particles from plastics that have already decomposed.
Naturally, the effects on wildlife have been devastating. Because the Patch is effectively an artificial land mass, it serves as a haven for black footed albatrosses, sea turtles, and the like. These poor animals unwittingly feed garbage to their offspring, in many cases killing them. Organic pollutants are also absorbed by pieces of debris, which are then eaten by jellyfish, which are then eaten by fish, which are often then eaten by humans. No human health issues have been traced definitively to the Patch, but in animals some of these pollutants are mistaken for estradiol by their endocrine system, causing hormonal issues. Floating plastic can also carry invasive species from one ecosystem to another, even though the garbage in the Patch is relatively stable.
Read more of my essays here.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a conglomeration of plastic debris, chemical sludge, and other trash that is carelessly disposed of by humans and makes its way into the ocean. There, currents carry it all to relatively the same spot, between 135° to 155° west and 35° to 42° north - the "horse latitudes" where the wind is practically dead. The exact size of the resulting island of garbage has not been determined but estimates range from twice the size of Texas to larger than the continental United States. Measuring is difficult because no one has set a specific standard for how much density of garbage is required to be considered a part of it and how little is just random flotsam that you'd expect in an ocean. Matters are complicated even further by the fact that satellites cannot see it, due to the majority of the plastics having already broken down into polymers.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published a paper predicting the Garbage Patch's existence in 1988. Alaska-based researchers in the Sea of Japan had noted the correlation between ocean currents and gatherings of plastic. They pointed where the currents elsewhere in the North Pacific would be most favorable to large gatherings. However, they were not proven correct for eleven years, until the Patch was officially discovered in 1997 by Charles J. Moore. Moore was returning home from the Transpac Sailing Race when he stumbled across a vast field of marine garbage. The discovery was made official by oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer. It was a sensational discovery, but an alarming one, and what no one knew at first was that while the garbage itself was bad enough, most of the Patch is actually made of the particles from plastics that have already decomposed.
Naturally, the effects on wildlife have been devastating. Because the Patch is effectively an artificial land mass, it serves as a haven for black footed albatrosses, sea turtles, and the like. These poor animals unwittingly feed garbage to their offspring, in many cases killing them. Organic pollutants are also absorbed by pieces of debris, which are then eaten by jellyfish, which are then eaten by fish, which are often then eaten by humans. No human health issues have been traced definitively to the Patch, but in animals some of these pollutants are mistaken for estradiol by their endocrine system, causing hormonal issues. Floating plastic can also carry invasive species from one ecosystem to another, even though the garbage in the Patch is relatively stable.
Read more of my essays here.