Plastic. It’s everywhere. Literally now. The flood of large bits of plastic, as well as tiny, horrible microplastics, has finally reached the Arctic. In fact, according to new research from the Alfred Wegener Institute, high concentrations of those microplastics have now been found in the water, on the seafloor, and even in the ice and snow. The team’s study was published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment.

This paragraph from their press release speaks volumes: Today, between 19 and 23 million metric tons of plastic litter per year end up in the waters of the world – that’s two truckloads per minute. Since plastic is also very stable, it accumulates in the oceans, where it gradually breaks down into ever smaller pieces – from macro- to micro- and nanoplastic and can even enter the human bloodstream. And the flood of debris is bound to get worse: global plastic production is expected to double by 2045.

To get to the Arctic, plastics are carried on the ocean currents from the Atlantic and the North Sea and from the Pacific over the Bering Strait. Some of the tiniest particles are actually carried to the region by the wind. There are numerous rivers that empty into the Arctic, and they bring their own plastic with them from places like Siberia. Plus, all those microplastics get frozen into the ice during seasonal changes, and some of that ice travels as ice floes that then melt when they reach the warmer regions around Greenland and Svalbard in the summer.

All this plastic is simply terrible for the ecosystem, particularly the animals. Everything from plankton to sperm whales has been found to come in contact with and sometimes ingest plastic, and for the Arctic species, the effects are no different. As lead author Melanie Bergmann explains: …there is evidence that the consequences there are similar to those in better-studied regions: in the Arctic, too, many animals – polar bears, seals, reindeer, and seabirds – become entangled in plastic and die. In the Arctic, too, unintentionally ingested microplastic likely leads to reduced growth and reproduction, to physiological stress and inflammations in the tissues of marine animals, and even runs in the blood of humans.

Additionally, all those trapped microplastic particles are changing the albedo of the ice and snow, making it darker, absorbing sunlight more rapidly, and causing a higher melt rate. If they get into the atmosphere, they cause clouds and rain, as we discussed a little last week when talking about solid aerosols.

At the end of the day, Bergmann notes: …the Arctic is warming three times faster than the rest of the world.”

More Information

AWI press release

“Plastic pollution in the Arctic,” Melanie Bergmann et al., 2022 April 5, Nature Reviews Earth & Environment