Great Pacific Garbage Patch (ongoing)

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of ocean plastic on Earth, containing 80,000 tonnes of debris across a 1.6 million km² area—an expanse three times the size of France. Over 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic float there, 94% of which are microplastics that break down into particles small enough to infiltrate every level of the marine food chain; microplastic concentrations here are 32% higher than in any other ocean gyre. This continuous ingestion reduces fish reproductive rates by 11% annually, a damage per square kilometre that exceeds the chronic toxicity from Aral Sea dust fallout. Cleanup costs are projected at $7.5 billion, equal to 0.4% of global GDP, yet the mass grows by 0.4 plastic bottles per second.