Physical dimensions of the patch
Today, the highest density of plastic is concentrated in a size of the ocean of roughly the size of Texas, but the extend is even further. Today, garbage patches make up 40% of the world's oceans, or 25% of the worlds total surface area. Though, if you're wondering why you can't see the garbage out of a plane or from a rocket, it's because the patches are mainly made up of microscopic materials. The plastics extend from the surface to a depth of over 100 feet! There is about 6 kg of trash per square kilometer, a large number considering the plastics are micro. The high density part of the patch is located between 135-155 degrees west and 35-42 degrees north, but the patch extends from Korea to California.
present day increase of the patch
However large the patch is, studies show that it'll continue to increase due to the fact that humans keep littering and disposing their trash in streams and waterways. Did you know that the most littered item in America are cigarette butts? That's not good, since they contain over 4000 harmful chemicals, which, in just 30 minutes, can dissolve in water. Another reason why the patch is not being cleaned up as fast as it should is because the patch is in the middle of the ocean and no government wants to claim responsibility. Therefore, governments are barely, if at all, spending money for technologies to be developed that would clean this mess up. No money, no solution.