New NASA animation shows the world's garbage in oceans

Mary Kinney
Updated
NASA Animation Shows World's Garbage
NASA Animation Shows World's Garbage



NASA's new models are a cool way to understand a messy subject: The world's garbage. National Geographic estimates there are more than 5 trillion pieces of trash in our oceans.

New models from NASA show how a lot of it floats into five main areas called "Garbage Patches." This model simulates trash put into the ocean all at once. While this model is based on data from actual buoys placed in the ocean over the last 35 years.



When you combine information from both models, you see the same garbage patches form. It's estimated that 269,000 tons of trash float on the surface of our seas.

Love NASA? Check out these incredible images of Earth's changes from space:


Advertisement