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[[Image:Pacific Ocean.gif|thumb|right|Pacific Ocean]]

[[Image:Pacific Ocean.gif|thumb|right|Pacific Ocean]]

The '''Pacific Ocean''' is the part of the [[ocean]] between the Americas to the east, and Asia, and Australia to the west. The first European to sight the Pacific was [[Vasco_Nunez_de_Balboa|Vasco Nuñez de Balboa]] in 1513.<ref>J. H. Parry: The Age of Reconnaissance</ref> [[John Keats]] wrongly recorded this event in his poem [[On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer]], claiming it [[Cortez]] who discovered the Ocean.

The '''Pacific Ocean''' is the part of the [[ocean]] between the Americas to the east, and Asia, and Australia to the west. The first European to sight the Pacific was [[Vasco Nunez de Balboa|Vasco Nuñez de Balboa]] in 1513.<ref>J. H. Parry: The Age of Reconnaissance</ref> [[John Keats]] wrongly recorded this event in his poem [[On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer]], claiming it [[Cortez]] who discovered the Ocean.

The Pacific Ocean is the world's largest ocean, and one of the fabled "[[seven seas]]." [[Ferdinand Magellan]]'s fleet crossed it on its voyage around the world. [[Scientist]]s have calculated that it has the same volume as the [[moon]], and some speculate that it may be the [[crater]] left when the moon and Earth were separated. This is the so-called "fission" theory. <ref>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tothemoon/origins.html</ref>  

The Pacific Ocean is the world's largest ocean, and one of the fabled "[[seven seas]]." [[Ferdinand Magellan]]'s fleet crossed it on its voyage around the world. [[Scientist]]s have calculated that it has the same volume as the [[moon]], and some speculate that it may be the [[crater]] left when the moon and Earth were separated. This is the so-called "fission" theory.<ref>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tothemoon/origins.html</ref>  

==Pollution problems in the Pacific==

==Pollution problems in the Pacific==

Whatever is dumped into the Pacific ends up in the Horse Latitudes. Because of air heating and cooling at the equator and poles, the wind and currents spiral to the center of this area. The technical name for this atmospheric phenomenon is the subtropical high, and the ocean current it creates is called the north Pacific central or sub-tropical gyre. The result is an area, larger than the USA, full of humanity's rubbish.  

Whatever is dumped into the Pacific ends up in the Horse Latitudes. Because of air heating and cooling at the equator and poles, the wind and currents spiral to the center of this area. The technical name for this atmospheric phenomenon is the subtropical high, and the ocean current it creates is called the north Pacific central or sub-tropical gyre. The result is an area, larger than the USA, full of humanity's rubbish.  

Organic debris is broken down by microorganisms, but they cannot deal with plastics, and there is now  in this area of water 6 pounds of plastic for every pound of plankton. <ref> http://marine-litter.gpa.unep.org/documents/World's_largest_landfill.pdf</ref>

Organic debris is broken down by microorganisms, but they cannot deal with plastics, and there is now  in this area of water 6 pounds of plastic for every pound of plankton.<ref>http://marine-litter.gpa.unep.org/documents/World's_largest_landfill.pdf</ref>

Plastic does not biodegrade, it photodegrades. Sunlight gradually breaks it down until it becomes indigestible molecules of plastic. This is a severe environmental hazard for any species in the area. 90% of Hawaiian green sea turtles nest here and eat the debris, Albatrosses are feeding on cigarette lighters and colored plastic pieces can be seen in the bellies of transparent feeding sinophores. <ref>http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/master.html?http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/1103/1103_feature.html</ref>

Plastic does not biodegrade, it photodegrades. Sunlight gradually breaks it down until it becomes indigestible molecules of plastic. This is a severe environmental hazard for any species in the area. 90% of Hawaiian green sea turtles nest here and eat the debris, Albatrosses are feeding on cigarette lighters and colored plastic pieces can be seen in the bellies of transparent feeding sinophores.<ref>http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/master.html?http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/1103/1103_feature.html</ref>

==References==

==References==

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