Pacific Garbage Patch

We all know that journalists often make things sound worse than they are, but they aren't the only ones. It seems that scientists sometimes do it too. In the past, scientists have claimed that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, that's the area in the Pacific Ocean where plastic waste is collected together to create one kind of big garbage island, is twice the size of the state of Texas or 20 times the size of England. Some scientists even said that there's more plastic in that ocean than plankton, that's the tiny animals and plants that fish eat. But a new report shows that while there is a very serious problem for the environment, it's not as great as many scientists have said. The research showed that the garbage covers an area of about 1.5 million feet, the research showed that the garbage covers an area that's much smaller than Texas. And while plastic can harm some sea life, it actually feeds other tiny living creatures. For this reason, the report concludes that we shouldn't try to remove the plastic, but should focus on stopping more garbage from entering the ocean, so it doesn't get worse in the future.