I’m sure it comes to no surprise that plastic pollution has reached the Arctic. Plastics are easily transported through bodies of water and animals which have eaten plastic. The plastic pollution is not solely caused by communities in the Arctic, but rather everyone around the world. The transportation of plastics through the Arctic Ocean is known as a “plastic conveyer belt.” Plastic pollution in the Arctic has been increasing over the past few years. What once was a pristine area with little to no plastic, is now becoming highly contaminated.
To analyze the amount of microplastics in the ice of the Arctic, researchers are able to take ice cores, or cylinders of ice drilled out of a larger ice sheet or glacier. They can analyze these cores for pieces of microplastics. Recently, researchers found the number of microplastics found were three times higher than previous years. each liter of ice contained approximately 12,000 particles of plastic. One reason this is a major issue is that animals in the area can easily digest these particles. With the increasing rate of ice melting, these plastics can also easily re- enter the ocean. The movement of sea ice can also introduce plastics to area with previously little to no plastic pollution.
