We generally think of islands as being fixed in size, but some islands are actually growing.

On the island of Hawaii, the Kilauea volcano has been continuouslyerupting since 1983. Lava has been pouring out of this volcano continuously for the past 30 years. Some of this lava reaches the ocean, which has caused the island to grow fresh land. Between 1983 and 2002, the islands landmass grew by 542 acres. While Hawaii is a natural example of the earths growing landmass, there are also growing islands of trash in five different places in the worlds oceans that are completely man made. The biggest island of trash is called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is in the Pacific Ocean between Japan and Hawaii. Some estimates say it is twice the size of the Continental United States. Its actual size is hard to say, because it is not really an island of solid trash, but is better described as a trash soup. In some areas this soup is thick and up to 10 meters deep, and in other areas it thins to very small pieces of plastic that are not visible from the surface. It is estimated to weigh 100 million tons and is continuing to grow daily. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is held together by wind and water currents, but that doesnt mean it is contained. It kills many different types of sea life including turtles, penguins, and birds that mistake the plastic trash as food. In the Midway Islands, the bodies of birds that have died from eating the plastic have beenphotographed, which has encouraged some people to decrease their use of plastics. Zooplankton are a variety of tiny organisms in the ocean that are a necessary food source for many of the oceans creatures. They are rapidly being outnumbered by plastic, however. In 1900, there were zero pounds of plastic per pound of zooplankton in the ocean. In 2000, there were six pounds of plastic per pound of zooplankton in the ocean. And today, there are 60 pounds of plastic per pound of zooplankton. This isnt just a problem for sea life, but also for us. So if you eat seafood, you are probably being exposed to all this plastic. In 2011, researchers found plastic in 9% of fish caught in the Pacific Ocean. The truth is that we are using plastic at an increasing rate. In the U.S., 2 million plastic bottles are thrown away every 5 minutes. And about 1 million plastic bags are used every minute worldwide. Theyre thrown in landfillsand in the oceans of the world, where they stay. All of this plastic is designed to last forever, or at the very least, hundreds to thousands of years. When we are faced with such immense pollution problems like this, its easy to bury our heads in the sand. But there is a solution and it starts with each one of us. Watch the video below as you ponder whether you can give up plastic and instead make reusable bags and bottles a part of your life.

Vocabulary erupt to explode or to come forth suddenly or violently ton a unit of weight equaling 2,000 pounds encourage inspire with confidence or spirit or courage pound a unit of weight equal to 12 ounces or 373 grams. exposed without protection; susceptible to immense large, huge, great bury your head in the sand this is a popular idiom meaning to ignore obvious danger or signs of warning. It comes from the behavior of the ostrich, which often buries its head in the sand in order to deal with threat. ponder to think deeply about