Arctic ice loaded with micro plastics

What are micro plastics?

Microplastics are very small pieces of plastic that pollute the environment. According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), these are small plastic pieces less than five millimetres long which can be harmful to our ocean and aquatic life.

Transportation

A large quantity of microplastic fragments and fibres are transported by winds into the Arctic region, and then hitch a ride Earthward in snowflakes. At the same time, several million tonnes of plastics find their way each year directly into oceans, where waves and the Sun break them down into microscopic bits over time.

Deepest access

Plastic particles were found inside fish in the deepest recesses of the ocean, called the Mariana Trench, and blanketing the most pristine snows in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain. In the last two decades, the world has produced as much plastic as during the rest of history.

The expedition

Funded by the National Science Foundation and the Heising-Simons Foundation in the USA, the expedition in the Swedish icebreaker The Oden ran from July 18 to August 4 and covered some 2,000 nautical miles. Separately, German and Swiss scientists published a study on Wednesday based on samples from the Arctic, Swiss Alps and Germany that suggested microplastic is being blown vast distances through the air and dumped when it snows.

Analysis plan

The team plans to subject the samples to further analysis to support a broader research effort to understand the damage plastic is doing to fish, seabirds and large ocean mammals such as whales.

A team led by oceanographer Loose collected the samples near the hamlet of Resolute during the expedition.