Arctic waters become ‘dead end’ for floating plastic waste in ocean
- 7 years ago
CADIZ, SPAIN — Arctic waters have become the last stop for plastic waste dumped in the oceans and trash is piling up in the once pristine waters, according to researchers.
A study led by a team of scientists from the University of Cadiz in Spain shows warm surface currents bring plastic waste from densely populated coastlines up to the Arctic Ocean, where it becomes trapped.
The study was published on April 19 by Science Advances.
There are approximately 300 billion tiny pieces of plastic waste in the surface water and it is highly likely that there is even more waste on the seafloor.
It is estimated that the plastic waste stored in the Arctic accounts for about 3 percent of the 110 million tons of plastic waste in the oceans.
“We don’t fully understand the consequences the plastic is having or will have in our oceans … What we do know is that these consequences will be felt at greater scale in an ecosystem like [the Arctic]” Andrés Cózar Cabañas, the study’s lead author told the New York Times.
A study led by a team of scientists from the University of Cadiz in Spain shows warm surface currents bring plastic waste from densely populated coastlines up to the Arctic Ocean, where it becomes trapped.
The study was published on April 19 by Science Advances.
There are approximately 300 billion tiny pieces of plastic waste in the surface water and it is highly likely that there is even more waste on the seafloor.
It is estimated that the plastic waste stored in the Arctic accounts for about 3 percent of the 110 million tons of plastic waste in the oceans.
“We don’t fully understand the consequences the plastic is having or will have in our oceans … What we do know is that these consequences will be felt at greater scale in an ecosystem like [the Arctic]” Andrés Cózar Cabañas, the study’s lead author told the New York Times.