Two groups of researchers have found microplastics in Arctic ice and snow. A U.S.-led team discovered microplastics in ice core samples taken on an 18-day icebreaker expedition through the Northwest Passage this summer. Meanwhile, German and Swiss scientists found plastic pieces in snow samples taken from the Arctic, the Swiss Alps and Germany.
Research aims to reevaluate microplastic pollution’s impact on the climate
Australian Division s ice core drilling camp in Aurora Basin North, East Antarctica. The team retrieved data to quantify elements contributing to climate change in January 2014. (Photo: Feiteng Wang)
April 3, 2021
Plastic plays a huge role in our daily lives – from plastic bags to products used and consumed – it makes up a majority of lived experiences and has reached some of the most remote parts of the world.
Our unsustainable use of plastic continues to have detrimental impacts on the health of the environment and species that inhabit it. It could come to a point of no return with permanent plastic contamination – unless we do something about it, fast.