How is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch a tragedy of the commons?

If the concept of competition is introduced, and other factories are dumping waste in the river, any individual factory will have a dominant strategy of dumping waste into the river. When many individuals exhibit this behavior, the tragedy of the commons occurs. This phenomena is actually quite common.

What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and why is it a problem?

The amount of debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch accumulates because much of it is not biodegradable. Many plastics, for instance, do not wear down; they simply break into tinier and tinier pieces. For many people, the idea of a “garbage patch” conjures up images of an island of trash floating on the ocean.

What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch What is it doing to ocean life?

In the Pacific Ocean, two massive floating islands of trash extend for hundreds of miles, together making up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The pervasive vortices of human-made garbage damage marine life, as well as the environment, and can even exacerbate human-caused climate change.

How is plastic pollution tragedy of the commons?

Plastic marine debris is a classic example of the tragedy of the commons, in which users of unowned natural goods like the oceans have an incentive to overexploit and ruin them.

What is the tragedy of the commons examples?

Animal extinction: Overfishing and overhunting are examples of a common pool resource being depleted by individuals acting in their own self-interest. Depletion of natural resources: When common resources are consumed with an eye towards short-term gain, the result can be a tragedy of the commons.

How does the Great Pacific Garbage Patch affect the atmosphere?

Other animals become entangled and trapped in the plastic. These animals often drown due to the entanglement. Harm to the environment can also occur from the presence of the garbage patch. Because the garbage blocks sunlight, algae is not growing as it should.

How did the Pacific Ocean become polluted?

The ocean absorbs some radioactive material from pollution in the air. Nuclear leaks and disasters account for a significant amount of pollution in the Pacific Ocean as well. A plume of radioactive material that persisted for years leaked into the water after a tsunami destroyed Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant.

How does the Great Pacific Garbage Patch affect the economy?

The potential economic losses from an increase in marine debris were greatest in Orange County, California, where doubling the amount of marine debris on beaches resulted in an estimated loss of $414 million tourism dollars spent in communities, and a decrease of nearly 4,300 jobs.

What can we do to help the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

– Try to use less single-use disposable plastic. Whether it’s bringing a cup to your local coffee place to declining a straw, or keeping reusable grocery bags in your car and using a refillable water bottle at the gym, keeping things out of the waste stream is the best way to stop plastic pollution.

What lessons can we learn from the story of the tragedy of the commons?

The Tragedy of the Commons is a story with a general lesson: when one person uses a common resource, he diminishes other people’s enjoyment of it. Because of this negative externality, common resources tend to be used excessively.

How does tragedy of the commons affect the environment?

As the cars sit idling and with their motors running, they contribute excessive amounts of emission to the atmosphere – this “extra” pollution occurs as a result of the Tragedy of the Commons. This leads to highly polluted water flowing through land, leaving toxins behind and killing wildlife.