Connect with us

Technologies

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch: The Floating Islands of Trash Three Times the Size of France

The Pacific Ocean has two large gyres filled with trash, and it’s coming from us.

As plastic waste continues to grow, so does the trash that’s accumulating in the Pacific Ocean. Two huge floating islands of garbage are taking up hundreds of thousands of square miles of real estate in what’s known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

The vortices of garbage in the Pacific harm marine life as well as the environment, exacerbating human-caused climate change. The effects of climate change have been widespread and mounting, including melting of polar ice, rising sea levels and extreme weather. Many efforts are underway to address the issues, from international agreements coming out of the UN’s COP conferences to individual choices like switching to solar energy, but much remains to be done.

While climate change is largely caused by human-made greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels for energy — with the top three emitters worldwide being China, the US and the EU — microplastics and trash in our oceans do contribute to the climate crisis. 

Wind turbines in the green field with CNET ZERO logo

Ocean plastic damages air quality, pollutes the atmosphere and contributes to global warming, according to Iberdrola, a multinational electric utility.

Sunlight and heat cause plastic to release powerful greenhouse gasses. The WWF says as the planet gets hotter, the plastic breaks down into methane and ethylene, which increases the rate of climate change.

Chemical components and legacy pollutants also absorb into the plastic marine animals are eating, Nancy Wallace, director of the Marine Debris Program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told CNET.

It’s why environmental nonprofit Ocean Cleanup is working to clear the mess out. From August 2021 through August 2023, the Ocean Cleanup deployed Jenny (System 002), its first large-scale cleaning system. Over its two-year span, it cleared out more than 623,439 pounds of trash. The crew launched its newest cleaning system, System 03, in late August 2023.

Addressing the climate crisis requires reducing pollution in the oceans, which accumulate an additional 14 million tons of plastic yearly.

Here’s what you need to know about the islands of trash in the Pacific Ocean, and how you can help with the cleanup.

Where is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

The garbage patch is two vortices filled with trash in the Pacific Ocean. The two whirlpools of human detritus are known as the Western Garbage Patch (closer to Japan) and the Eastern Garbage Patch (closer to California and Mexico). 

They’re also known as gyres, which is when two ocean currents come together and create a hurricane-like current, Wallace said. Materials then get caught in the gyres.

While you may think the patches are solid masses of tangled plastic, they’re actually dispersed across hundreds of miles of the Pacific. You could sail through the patches without even noticing you’re in them. This is because as much as 70% of the trash eventually sinks to the bottom of the ocean, Wallace said, and more evidence shows it sinks into a water column, which is why it’s not all on the surface.

How large is the garbage patch?

The Ocean Cleanup estimates that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch occupies 1.6 million square kilometers, about twice the size of Texas, or three times the size of France. It’s estimated to span around 620,000 square miles.

However, the actual size of the island of trash is unknown, since not all of the trash sits on top of the water, Wallace said, and it’s a moving target due to waves and wind. It does, however, stay within a specific area due to ocean currents.

How much trash is in the garbage patch?

There’s an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of trash in the garbage patch, according to Conservation.org, which also projects that by 2050, the mass of ocean trash from plastic will outweigh its fish. 

During its sampling, the Ocean Cleanup said it found more than 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic in the patch, weighing an estimated 80,000 tons. The organization said that number is a midrange value, and its calculations estimated that it may range from 1.1 to 3.6 trillion pieces.

At least 11 million tons of plastic enter all the oceans each year, and ocean-borne plastic is forecast to double by 2030, according to the Ocean Conservancy.

What kind of garbage is in the mounds of ocean trash?

Most of the trash comes from land in North America and Asia, like plastic bottles and straws that have found their way into the ocean. Trash can eventually make its way into the ocean from land-based sources, such as rivers, storm water and littering. 

However, 20% comes from boats or ships that discard debris into the ocean, including lost fishing gear, according to the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.

trash collected by the Ocean Cleanup's System 03

How does the garbage affect marine life?

You’ve likely seen photos of sea turtles and whales with fishing nets tangled around their bodies and shells. This is just one terrible effect that human-generated debris has on marine life. 

Animals in the ocean can also ingest the plastic debris, which can harm their digestive tracts and make them feel as though they’re full, Wallace said. This results in the animals not eating the food they need to survive. The plastic could also lacerate their organs.

Microplastics can also damage the ocean

Microplastics are less than 5 millimeters long and come from larger debris that breaks down into smaller pieces, so they’re much harder to filter out. These small plastics can likewise pose a threat to aquatic animals as they ingest the debris. 

But can eating fish that have consumed these microplastics hurt humans? Ocean Cleanup says when animals eat the plastics containing chemicals, there’s a possibility the chemicals could eventually make their way up the food chain to people.

What’s being done to clean up the ocean trash?

Groups are working to prevent more trash from ending up in the garbage patches by reducing the number of single-use products, such as bottles and straws. There are also people working on cleanup and removal of debris on or near the shore, because it’s easier to get land trash picked up. 

Other groups are looking at doing open ocean cleanup to collect debris like fishing gear and other smaller pieces that are floating around, but there are some challenges since the Pacific Ocean is so big and deep. 

Organizations like the WWF and Ocean Conservancy are also working closely with partners to focus on standardized regulations for businesses that regularly use plastic or that design products made primarily from plastic, Wallace said.

Stanley Cup and water bottle disassembled on counter

What can I do to help clean up ocean trash?

While a lot of the garbage is being produced by big corporations and dumped by ships, there are some things you can do on a personal level to help.

  • Avoid adding to the problem. For instance, stop littering and start using reusable water bottles and shopping bags instead of single-serve plastic bottles or plastic bags that can easily wind up in waterways.
  • If you live near an ocean, volunteer to help clean the shoreline to help remove debris on shores. 
  • If you don’t live near an ocean, you can help clean up parks, local neighborhoods, stormwater drains and other waterways, as trash in those areas can eventually end up in marine environments. 
  • Donate to different organizations that support removing the trash, such as Ocean Conservancy and Oceana.
  • Shop at companies that are working toward sustainability. They’ll typically have this info listed on their website — for instance, Amazon has a sustainability page with its goals.
  • Vote in elections to support people in all levels of the government who advocate policies addressing climate change, including writing letters and making phone calls to your senators.

For more information, here’s what a carbon footprint is and if yours matters. Also, climate denial is evolving on YouTube — here’s how to make sense of it.

Related Topics:

Technologies

Note, Paint and Snip With AI: Microsoft Adds New Features, but Not for Everyone

Notepad is getting an AI-generated text feature, and Paint and Snipping Tool are also getting AI upgrades.

Three longtime staples of the Microsoft ecosystem are getting artificial intelligence enhancements, but they won’t necessarily be available to all. With the updates, Notepad users will be able to use generative AI to write text; Paint users can now create AI-generated stickers; and Snipping Tool users can deploy a «perfect screenshot» feature.

The catch, however, is that the Notepad AI update will be available only to Microsoft 365 or Copilot Pro subscribers and Paint’s new AI features will work only on Copilot Plus PCs.

Everyone will be able to use the new Snipping Tool enhancements, however.

The AI additions to Notepad will use Copilot, Microsoft’s «AI-powered assistant» that can search the internet, give answers to all kinds of questions, create documents and more. While in Notepad, you can right-click from anywhere in the document, select Write and then type instructions for the text. After the AI generates the text, you can choose either Keep Text or Discard.

To use the new Write feature in Notepad, you have to be either a Microsoft 365 or Copilot Pro subscriber and then use some of your allotted AI credits.

Paint and Snipping Tool also are leveling up with AI, using Copilot. According to the Windows Insiders blog, in Paint you can create a sticker with a prompt such as «cat wearing sunglasses.» In the Snipping Tool, you can create a «perfect screenshot.» The blog describes a couple of methods to do this, but the end result is AI will deliver the screenshot so that you will not have to crop or resize the image.

Continue Reading

Technologies

iPhone 17 Rumors, From a Slim ‘Air’ Model to a 25% Tariff Threat

Apple couldn’t keep the iPhone out of the tariff wars forever, it seems.

We’re still months away from Apple’s anticipated reveal of the newest iPhone, which we expect to happen in the company’s usual September window for launching the next edition of its popular line of smartphones. In the meantime, plenty of rumors are swirling about what the upcoming device, likely called the iPhone 17, could look like. 

From a redesigned camera module to a slimmer «Air» version of the iPhone 17, there’s been lots of buzz about what Apple’s next lineup will bring. We might even see a fresh blue color option for the Pro models. 

But the biggest news could be that iPhones get pricier thanks to tariffs. President Donald Trump threatened that Apple phones made outside the US would be subject to a 25% tariff, which could tack $200 or more on to the prices of the iPhone 17 series if all that extra cost was passed along to the consumer. We’ll have to wait and see how Apple and CEO Tim Cook respond to this proclamation.

And the rumors aren’t just about external appearances; reports suggest Apple will overhaul the look and feel of its software with the launch of iOS 19 as well. There are also rumors about increased RAM across all four expected devices.

Here’s what analysts and leakers predict about the iPhone 17 lineup. 

A slimmer iPhone 17 ‘Air’ 

One of the biggest rumors surrounds a possible iPhone «Air,» a thinner version of Apple’s flagship device that would replace the iPhone Plus option. 

The Air could feature a 6.6-inch screen, making it slightly smaller than the iPhone 16 Plus and iPhone 16 Pro Max but still bigger than the baseline model, according to analysts Jeff Pu and Ming-Chi Kuo. A Bloomberg report from March supports those rumors, and notes that the iPhone Air could measure 5.5mm thick. The report also suggests the phone will cost around $900, putting it on par with the iPhone 16 Plus and maintaining its place in the iPhone hierarchy. 

For Apple to slim down a device, it would need to make hardware trade-offs, and that might include the phone’s camera. According to both Kuo and Bloomberg, it’s possible this version of the iPhone 17 would have only one main camera, doing without the ultrawide and 5x telephoto lenses that have been staples of Apple’s premium iPhones for years. This would place the slim iPhone in the same camp as the $600 iPhone 16E when it comes to cameras, as that phone has only one rear lens. The good news, though, is that the selfie camera on the iPhone Air could get a boost; more on that later. 

One key challenge will be maintaining a high battery capacity, since a slimmer build typically means less space for the battery and thus a potential compromise on battery life. Bloomberg suggests Apple is focused on tackling that shortcoming. The report also notes that the iPhone 17 Air is expected to have superslim bezels, a Camera Control button and the Dynamic Island.

The phone will likely feature an A18 or A19-branded chip, Pu suggests. This would reportedly match the chip in the baseline iPhone 17. It could also include the Apple-developed 5G modem, called the C1 chip, which debuted on the iPhone 16E.

A higher refresh rate across the board

Rumor has it all models of the iPhone 17 will feature a 120Hz display, bumping the non-Pro models up from their current 60Hz refresh rate. That could be a welcome change, as the discrepancy between the Pro and non-Pro refresh rate is surprising; when Apple debuted the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus with a 60Hz display, there was a bit of an outcry from folks who expected more in 2024. This rumored update could remedy that — and possibly bring the always-on display to the baseline model. 

What we likely won’t see is a new anti-reflective display that Apple was reportedly working on, according to MacRumors. A source reportedly told the publication that Apple scrapped plans for a more scratch-resistant display coating which could have appeared on the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. This would have made them the first iPhones with an anti-reflective screen, giving them a feature that CNET’s Patrick Holland deemed one of the best attributes of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. According to MacRumors, «Apple ran into problems scaling up the display coating process, and it is currently no longer a planned feature for the ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ models.»

Camera upgrades 

It’s not an iPhone release without a camera upgrade, and there have been plenty of rumors about what the camera module could look like on Apple’s upcoming phones. In January, a leaked image from Majin Bu on X suggested the phone could feature a pill-shaped camera bar, essentially resembling what you’d find on Google’s Pixel 9 phone. In February, Bu followed up with CAD renders of what’s said to be the iPhone 17 lineup, featuring horizontal camera bars, as well as larger rectangular bars on the iPhone 17 Pro models. 

Front Page Tech also shared iPhone 17 Pro renders in a video in February, depicting a larger camera bar that maintains the lens’ stacked layout. A separate video on the iPhone 17 Air shows a smaller camera bar, with one lens on the left. 

In April, Bloomberg reported the «iPhone 17 Pro will look a lot more like the 16 Pro than anticipated,» adding, «From the front, the 17 Pro will appear quite similar to the 16 Pro. It’s the back camera that will look meaningfully different.» The latest rumors suggest the iPhone 17 Pro’s three-lens camera arrangement will be maintained, but will sit on a new panel that stretches across the phone’s width.

Later in April, Bu again posted an image of the purported iPhone 17 lineup, showing those wider camera bars with the stacked lenses still configured to the left. 

Not until next year, for the 20th anniversary of the iPhone, will Apple be «preparing a major shake-up» for the phone’s design, Bloomberg says. That includes a (long-rumored) foldable version and a «bold new Pro model that makes more extensive use of glass.»

Another camera-related rumor is that the selfie camera on all iPhone 17 models, including the Air, will be upgraded to 24 megapixels, according to Pu. That’s a decent bump from the current 12-megapixel front-facing camera on the iPhone 16 lineup, though it’s important to remember that more megapixels don’t automatically mean better photos. Still, given how much people increasingly rely on their front cameras to snap selfies and record videos for TikTok and Instagram, this will surely be a welcome advancement.

A sky blue iPhone 17 Pro

It’s not clear what colors will be included in the iPhone 17’s lineup. But in April, Bu said the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max could include a sky blue option. In an article, Bu wrote that «sources close to the supply chain confirm that several iPhone 17 Pro prototypes have been made in various colors, with Sky Blue currently the frontrunner.» 

Bu describes the sky blue color as being «even more stunning than the much-loved Sierra Blue of the iPhone 13 Pro, with a brightness and refinement that make it irresistible.» (My colleague Jeff Carlson isn’t so thrilled about this rumor.)

iOS 19 could bring a fresh look

Regarding what’s on the inside, Apple is reportedly looking to revamp its mobile operating system with the release of iOS 19. According to Bloomberg, this «includes updating the style of icons, menus, apps, windows and system buttons.» Sources reportedly told the publication that Apple is «working to simplify the way users navigate and control their devices,» and that the design borrows from the Vision Pro’s operating system. For instance, VisionOS features more circular app icons and translucent navigation panels. It’s possible what you’ll see on your future iPhone could more closely mirror this aesthetic.

The software revamp would reportedly extend to iPad and Mac, therefore bringing consistency across Apple’s devices. Bloomberg notes this would be the biggest software shakeup since macOS Big Sur’s release in 2020 and iOS 7’s release in 2013.

Other possible features

The rumors on what frames the iPhone 17 lineup will feature have gone back and forth, but Pu recently suggested the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max will all have aluminum frames. He noted that the iPhone 17 Air could be the outlier with a titanium frame. 

Additionally, the iPhone 17 Pro Max could have a narrower Dynamic Island, thanks to a smaller Face ID sensor. Pu has said the Dynamic Island on other iPhone 17 models would reportedly stay the same size. 

In February, Kuo noted Apple will swap out Broadcom’s Wi-Fi chips for in-house chips across the iPhone 17 lineup, stating this would «enhance connectivity across Apple devices.» It’s not yet clear what exactly this would mean, but it would be interesting if Apple’s C1 chip were accompanied by its own Wi-Fi chip, too.

In April, tipster Digital Chat Station noted that given the use of Apple Intelligence and AI on a «large scale,» all the phones will come with 12GB of RAM. Digital Trends notes this aligns with previous suggestions from Kuo, which gives the rumor some added weight. The iPhone 16 lineup tops out at 8GB of RAM, so this would be a notable leap. 

We’ll continue to update this piece as more rumors surface, so be sure to follow along. 

Check Out the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s Cameras, Display and Colors

+9 More

See all photos

Continue Reading

Technologies

Worried About Prices? CNET Is Monitoring the Daily Tariff Impacts on 11 Key Products

CNET is keeping track of prices for several key products as prospects for the months ahead remain uncertain, including one popular TV speaker you might want to buy right now.

President Donald Trump continues to clash with companies over their reactions to his contentious tariff agenda. Last week, he demanded that Walmart eat the cost of the new import taxes after the company said its prices would go up by the summer. To close out this week, he’s threatened Apple with a 25% duty on its products if it doesn’t move manufacturing to the US, a prospect that has been widely dismissed as a fantasy.

The basic truth of the situation is that tariffs are almost certainly going to cause prices to climb, and with this piece I’ve been tracking just that: the daily effect of Trump’s tariffs on the prices of 11 popular products you might want or need to buy, whether it be a new phone, laptop or your daily coffee. So far, we’ve seen notable price hikes for the flagship Xbox game console, while everything else has, as Amazon claimed, remained steady aside from occasional fluctuations that might not be tariff-related. That sort of consistency is far from certain, however, given the recent warnings from major retailers like Walmart and Target.

CNET Tariff Tracker Index

Above, you can check out a chart with the average price of the 11 included items over the course of 2025. This will help give you a sense of the overall price changes and fluctuations going on. Further down, you’ll be able to check out charts for each individual product being tracked.

A recent tariff agreement with China, much-hyped by the White House, did significantly cut tariff rates against the US’s biggest trading partner. The new 30% rate is only temporary, however, and still historically high. It just looks more reasonable next to the ludicrous 145% rate that was previously in place. As those negotiations move along, companies continue to warn of impending price hikes in order to deal with the new tariffs, including Sony, which could potentially mean a price hike for its ever-popular PlayStation 5 consoles.

We’ll be updating this article regularly as prices change. It’s all in the name of helping you make sense of things, so be sure to check back every so often. For more, check out CNET’s guide to whether you should wait to make big purchases or buy them now and get expert tips about how to prepare for a recession.

Methodology

We’re checking prices daily and will update the article and the relevant charts right away to reflect any changes. The following charts show a single bullet point for each month, with the most recent one labeled «Now» and showing the current price. For the past months, we’ve gone with what was the most common price for each item in the given month. 

In most cases, the price stats used in these graphs were pulled from Amazon using the historical price tracker tool Keepa. For the iPhones, the prices come from Apple’s official materials and are based on the 128-gigabyte base model of the latest offering for each year: the iPhone 14, iPhone 15 and iPhone 16. For the Xbox Series X, the prices were sourced from Best Buy using the tool PriceTracker. If any of these products happen to be on sale at a given time, we’ll be sure to let you know and explain how those price drops differ from longer-term pricing trends that tariffs can cause.

The 11 products we’re tracking

Mostly what we’re tracking in this article are electronic devices and digital items that CNET covers in depth, like iPhones and affordable 4K TVs — along with a typical bag of coffee, a more humble product that isn’t produced in the US to any significant degree. 

The products featured were chosen for a few reasons: Some of them are popular and/or affordable representatives for major consumer tech categories, like smartphones, TVs and game consoles. Others are meant to represent things that consumers might buy more frequently, like printer ink or coffee beans. Some products were chosen over others because they are likely more susceptible to tariffs. Some of these products have been reviewed by CNET or have been featured in some of our best lists.

Below, we’ll get into more about each individual product.

iPhone 16

The iPhone is the most popular smartphone brand in the US, so this was a clear priority for price tracking. The iPhone has also emerged as a major focal point for conversations about tariffs, given its popularity and its susceptibility to import taxes because of its overseas production, largely in China. Trump has reportedly been fixated on the idea that the iPhone can and should be manufactured in the US, an idea that experts have dismissed as a fantasy. Estimates have also suggested that a US-made iPhone would cost as much as $3,500.

Apple has made several moves this year to protect its prices in the US as much as possible, like flying in bulk shipments of product ahead of the tariffs taking effect and working to move production for the American market from China to India, where tariff rates are less severe. This latter move provoked a response from Trump, given his noted fixation on the iPhone, saying last week that he «had a little problem» with Tim Cook over the move, claiming without evidence that the Apple CEO pledged to bring more manufacturing to the US. Cook and others close to the company for years say that the supply chains for its products are too complex to move manufacturing entirely to the US. 

This week, Trump further threatened a 25% penalty rate against Apple products if it did not move manufacturing to the US. How that will play out is still unclear, but notably, foreign-made iPhones with 25% tax would still probably be much cheaper than iPhones predominantly made in the US.

Duracell AA batteries

A lot of the tech products in your home might boast a rechargeable energy source but individual batteries are still an everyday essential and I can tell you from experience that as soon as you forget about them, you’ll be needing to restock. The Duracell AAs we’re tracking are some of the bestselling batteries on Amazon.

Samsung DU7200 TV

Alongside smartphones, televisions are some of the most popular tech products out there, even if they’re an infrequent purchase. This particular product is a popular entry-level 4K TV and was CNET’s pick for best overall budget TV for 2025. Unlike a lot of tech products that have key supply lines in China, Samsung is a South Korean company, so it might have some measure of tariff resistance. 

Xbox Series X

Video game software and hardware are a market segment expected to be hit hard by the Trump tariffs. Microsoft’s Xbox is the first console brand to see price hikes — the company cited «market conditions» along with the rising cost of development. Most notably, this included an increase in the price of the flagship Xbox Series X, up from $500 to $600. Numerous Xbox accessories were also affected, and the company also said that «certain» games will eventually see a price hike from $70 to $80.

Initially, we were tracking the price of the much more popular Nintendo Switch as a representative of the gaming market. Nintendo has not yet hiked the price of its handheld-console hybrid and stressed that the $450 price tag of the upcoming Switch 2 has not yet been inflated because of tariffs. Sony, meanwhile, has so far only increased prices on its PlayStation hardware in markets outside the US.

AirPods Pro 2

The latest iteration of Apple’s wildly popular true-wireless earbuds are here to represent the headphone market. Much to the chagrin of the audiophiles out there, a quick look at sales charts on Amazon shows you just how much the brand dominates all headphone sales. Earlier in the year, they tended to be noticeably cheaper on Amazon, but as now, they have steadily creeped back up towards their $250 list price.

HP 962 CMY printer ink

This HP printer ink includes cyan, magenta and yellow all in one product and recently saw its price jump from around $72 — where it stayed for most of 2025 — to $80, which is around its highest price over the last five years. We will be keeping tabs to see if this is a long-term change or a brief uptick.

This product replaced Overture PLA Filament for 3D printers in this piece, but we’re still tracking that item.

Anker 10,000-mAh, 30-watt power bank

Anker’s accessories are perennially popular in the tech space and the company has already announced that some of its products will get more expensive as a direct result of tariffs. This specific product has also been featured in some of CNET’s lists of the best portable chargers. While the price has remained steady throughout the year, it is currently on sale for $16 on Amazon, but only for Prime members.

Bose TV speaker

Soundbars have become important purchases, given the often iffy quality of the speakers built into TVs. While not the biggest or the best offering in the space, the Bose TV Speaker is one of the more affordable soundbar options out there, especially hailing from a brand as popular as Bose. This product has been one of the steadiest on this list in terms of price throughout the year, but it’s currently on sale for $199, potentially as part of Amazon’s Memorial Day sale. So, if you’re looking for an affordable, tariff-free TV speaker, now might be the time.

Oral-B Pro 1000 electric toothbrush

They might be a lot more expensive than their traditional counterparts, but electric toothbrushes remain a popular choice for consumers because of how well they get the job done. I know my dentist won’t let up on how much I need one. This particular Oral-B offering was CNET’s overall choice for the best electric toothbrush for 2025.

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook

Lenovo is notable among the big laptop manufacturers for being a Chinese company making its products especially susceptible to Trump’s tariffs.

Starbucks Ground Coffee (28-ounce bag)

Coffee is included in this tracker because of its ubiquity —I’m certainly drinking too much of it these days —and because it’s uniquely susceptible to Trump’s tariff agenda. Famously, coffee beans can only be grown within a certain distance from Earth’s equator, a tropical span largely outside the US and known as the «Coffee Belt.» 

Hawaii is the only part of the US that can produce coffee beans, with data from USAFacts showing that 11.5 million pounds were harvested there in the 2022-23 season — little more than a drop in the mug, as the US consumed 282 times that amount of coffee during that period. Making matters worse, Hawaiian coffee production has declined in the past few years.

All that to say: Americans get almost all of their coffee from overseas, making it one of the most likely products to see price hikes from tariffs.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © Verum World Media