The world's largest garbage patch, explained

How marine debris accumulates in giant garbage patches

National Geographic breaks down everything you need to know about The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, along with pictures. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean. Marine debris is litter that ends up in the ocean, seas, and other large bodies of water.

The harsh realities of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Misleading images and narratives have caused the public to believe that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is simply a large clump of floating trash in the ocean. Instead, a more apt description would paint it as a dispersed "soup of microplastics" that severely impacts marine life and the fishing industry. Read for a greater understanding of how the GPGP came to be, and the measures that need to be taken for a cleanup.

Plastic debris across the ocean aids the spread of invasive species

The durable, long-lasting material can serve as a platform for living organisms to latch onto and ride over vast distances. After the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, a large dock carrying 100 tons of living organisms native to Japan washed up on Oregon's coastline, confirming the ecological threat.

Founder of The Ocean Cleanup explains the case for cleaning oceans

Removing trash from the oceans not only saves wildlife, it may save human lives, too. The CEO and founder of The Ocean Cleanup explains how existing plastic pollution harms us and get harder to clean up over time.

Where the US’s plastic recycling is discarded

The US ships over a million tons of plastic waste overseas each year. A short video explainer from USA Today shows a breakdown of what really happens to America's recyclables.

Using AI to track plastic pollution in real time

Explore Global Plastic Watch, the first-ever, near-real-time, high-resolution map of plastic pollution. Global Plastic Watch uses advanced satellite data technology and machine learning to measure piles of plastic waste from space.

Microplastic pollution extends from Earth’s deepest oceans to its highest peak

Researchers have found microplastic particles in snow samples taken from near the summit of Mount Everest. Microplastics have also been detected in the Mariana Trench, highlighting the widespread nature of this pollutant.

The amount of plastic chemicals in 300 everyday Bay Area foods

Food production is more complicated than it appears, and manufacturing, packaging, and shipping processes can add significant substances to your food. This massive project compiled data on 300 samples of foods delivered to the San Francisco area, testing for the presence of 18 different kind of plastic. Learn how to read the data here with its helpful guides and then explore the table yourself.

Satellite imagery of the massive seaweed blob in the Atlantic

A belt of sargassum seaweed that stretches from the west coast of Africa to the Gulf of Mexico is the largest on record for March.

The world's largest coral, as seen from space

The world’s largest individual coral colony—measuring over 100 feet wide and 100 feet long—was discovered in the Solomon Islands. This coral is so large it can be seen from space, and is estimated to be between 300 and 500 years old. The coral's size and health provide hope amidst a global coral bleaching crisis, wherein three-quarters of coral reefs have experienced significant bleaching in recent decades. See the photos from space and learn more here.

The CCZ is believed to harbor trillions of dollars of valuable minerals and thousands of undiscovered species

Located between Hawaii and Mexico and spanning an area larger than the European Union, the Clarion-Clipperton Zone is the world's region with the most contracts awarded to groups seeking to extract valuable metals by collecting polymetallic nodules. Conservative estimates suggest that 21.1 billion tons of polymetallic nodules exist in this abyssal plain, but about 90% of the species in the area are unknown to scientists.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

Space trash could be cleaned up using a giant inflatable bag

California-based TransAstra has developed and tested a device called Capture Bag, intended to catch anything from small rocks to house-sized boulders. The company claims its system could also be adapted for asteroid capture and mining.

Deep Blue is the largest great white shark ever caught on camera

In 2019, Deep Blue was one of three huge great whites spotted off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, an uncommon place for sightings of white sharks. The unique series of sightings aroused curiosity and amazement from islanders and scientists alike.

What happens when a whale dies and falls to the ocean floor

A large whale's body can blanket more than 538 square feet of ocean floor. That's an enormous amount of organic matter, providing food for the ecosystem for centuries. Researchers have discovered bones on the seafloor from whale species that have been extinct for over 100,000 years.

Global CO2 levels as measured at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory, managed by the US government’s NOAA.

The Global Monitoring Laboratory conducts research on greenhouse gas and carbon cycle feedbacks, changes in clouds, aerosols, and surface radiation, and recovery of stratospheric ozone.

As of 2025, the world's largest tropical cyclone spanned half the continental US

Typhoon Tip traveled across the western Pacific Ocean in 1979, achieving winds of 300 kilometers per hour. Though it weakened significantly before making landfall in Japan, its rainfall produced over 600 mudslides and killed 42 people.

Carbon sinks absorb more greenhouse gases than they produce

The largest on Earth are oceans, which capture 25% of all carbon emissions and 90% of excess atmospheric thermal radiation while generating half of the world's oxygen. Wildfires and deforestation have reduced forests' net sink capacity, though fungi are believed to capture and store over a third of global carbon emissions.

An anthropologist spent years riding garbage trucks to understand what our trash says about us

Robin Nagle rode with New York City sanitation workers to trace the hidden life of what we throw out. Her research explores what the things we discard reveal about who we are. 1440 explores the hidden life of trash.

How Oceans were formed

Nonprofit organization American Oceans briefly explains the formation of the oceans, which cover over two thirds of Earth’s surface. They were formed by centuries of rain from the condensation of Earth's original gasses.

Explore how close you live to some of the most contaminated places in the US

Known as Superfund sites, these toxic locations undergo long-term cleanup to remove hazardous waste, protect health, and restore land for safe reuse. As of 2025, the EPA lists around 1,300 active Superfund sites on its National Priorities List, with more than 450 cleaned and removed since 1980.

What makes the world's biggest waves?

Some of the world’s biggest waves, routinely reaching 100 feet high, are formed near the town of Nazaré, Portugal. But what makes this area so prone to massive swells? While a number of factors are involved, the key feature is the Nazaré Canyon,...

Before World War II, the US was a Pacific power

Decades before Pearl Harbor, the US held major Pacific territories—Hawaii, the Philippines, Guam, American Samoa, and numerous island bases—giving it strategic reach across the western Pacific. This presence increasingly overlapped with Japan’s imperial ambitions in the region, contributing to rising tensions.

The world's largest Torrey pine is in Santa Barbara County

Torrey pines are extremely rare—believed to be endemic to just two pockets of California coast. In Carpinteria, to the southeast of Santa Barbara, stands the Woodholme Torrey pine, the world's tallest at 126 feet, first planted in 1883.

All of the world's gold, visualized

Out of the total above-ground stock of gold (weighing roughly 216,265 metric tons), the largest share is found in jewelry (97,149 metric tons).

In 2022, a piece of Challenger was discovered on the ocean floor

While searching for World War II wreckage near Cape Canaveral, Florida, for a documentary, divers discovered debris on the seafloor that NASA later confirmed to be a piece of Space Shuttle Challenger wreckage. The piece is at least 15-by-15 feet in size and partially buried under sand.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Waves off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal, can reach over 100 feet and are caused by the area's deep underwater canyon geography

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

This real-time tracking of the hantavirus cruise ship outbreak in May 2026 offers a unique glimpse into the global reach of the outbreak and whether the virus sickened passengers and their communities around the world.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

Larger animals like giraffes, elephants, and blue whales have developed a unique defense against cancer, a phenomenon known as Peto's Paradox

See the 25 of the best photos of auroras from around the world.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in terms of casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

This poison ivy knowledge quiz—accompanied by photos of the plant's varied forms—may help you identify this common rash-inducing growth.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.