Japan Tsunami Debris Headed for North American Coast

A massive plume of wreckage pulled out to sea by the March 11 disaster is crossing the Pacific Ocean.

If you live on the West Coast, you might want to get your swimming in now, because according to the International Pacific Research Center, your beaches are going to get very messy. The tsunami that hit Japan last month pulled all kinds of debris out to sea, including cars, electronics, and pieces of homes, and the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre is now pushing that wreckage across the Pacific toward North America. Scientists at the IPRC have charted its course based on data collected from drifting buoys, and say it will reach the north edge of Hawaii by March 2012, and begin dumping trash on North American beaches two years later. Its ultimate destination is the so-called North Pacific Garbage Patch.