Debris from Japan’s tsunami predicted to hit Hawaii shores

by Maria Kanai

courtesy U.S. Navy/Specialist 3rd Class Dylan McCord

Tsunami debris from Japan floating on the ocean and making its way to Hawaii.

According to Jan Hafner, scientific computer programmer at the International Pacific Research Center, debris from last month's tsunami in Japan is expected to hit the shores of Hawaii in about two years.

Destroyed remnants of Japan's coastal towns such as cars, wood, construction material, houses and roof tops are moving across the Pacific Ocean riding powerful currents, such as the Kuroshio, which flows at one meter a second. At the moment, the debris has moved already a few hundred miles off the coast of Japan and is floating to America.

Based off a diagnostic model by UH scientists, the debris will reach Hawaii in two years. By then, the debris would turn into a "North Pacific garbage patch", which will piece away and continue to filter to Hawaii shores for about five more years. At the moment, the garbage patch is the size of Texas or even bigger.

In regards to this prediction, a project is being planned by Nikolai Maximenko to start tracking debris by placing transmitters on pieces from the tsunami. Gisela Speidel, who also works at the International Pacific Research Center, says, "It [the project] will help to determine where the different objects travel and how quickly and how they break apart. Such tracking will help government agencies to implement strategies to deal with the debris."

When asked what students at UH Manoa can do to help, Spiedel says, "Let us prevent trash from getting into the ocean in the first place. When at the beach, or boating, every one of us should make sure our trash is not left on the sand or thrown into the water…clean-up days by different community groups and schools are very important to deal with the immediate problem on hand."

Japan's tsunami has had a worldwide impact, and Hawaii is not an exception. However, Speidel hopes that this incident may possibly turn out for good.

"Our oceans were becoming more and more polluted already before the tsunami, perhaps the current disaster help to will bring governments and industries that contribute to marine debris together to begin to deal with the ever growing problem of garbage in our oceans."