Plastic waste discovered amid remote Arctic floes
Scientists warn of threat to wildlife after melting ice allows polystyrene blocks to drift hundreds of miles
PLASTIC waste in the ocean is now so widespread it is polluting remote ice floes in the Arctic, scientists have found.
A team from Exeter University, working alongside explorer Pen Hadow on a fact-finding expedition called Arctic Mission, discovered blocks of polystyrene in areas hundreds of miles from land which until recently were covered by ice all year round.
Plastic poses a particular environmental threat as large pieces break down into “microplastics” which are consumed by wildlife and are passed up the food chain.
The exploration programme is an attempt to make the first voyage by yacht to the North Pole to conduct vital scientific research in the Arctic’s unique and fragile environment.
Recent reductions in the summer ice cover – thought to be the result of climate change – have allowed the mission’s two yachts to go further into the Central Arctic Ocean than ever before
Tim Gordon, a marine biologist from Exeter University, said: “Finding pieces of rubbish like this is a worrying sign that melting ice may be allowing high levels of pollution to drift into these areas. This is potentially very dangerous for the Arctic’s wildlife.
“The Arctic Ocean’s wildlife used to be protected by a layer of sea ice all year round. Now that is melting away, this environment will be exposed to commercial fishing, shipping and industry for the first time in history. We need to seriously consider how best to protect the Arctic’s animals from these new threats.
“By doing so, we will give them a fighting chance of adapting and responding to their rapidly-changing habitat.”
The Arctic Mission team also used nets with holes smaller than a millimetre to sieve for microplastics in the water. These samples will be analysed in the laboratory to evaluate current levels of pollution in the Arctic and its likely impact on wildlife.
Estimates suggest there are more than five trillion pieces of plastic floating in the world’s oceans, and there are estimates they will soon outweigh fish.
Dr Ceri Lewis, scientific adviser to the expedition based at the University of Exeter, said: “Many rivers lead into the Arctic Ocean that are often a source of plastic pollution, but plastic pollution has been literally trapped into the ice.
“Now the ice is melting we believe microplastics are being released into the Arctic. The Arctic is thought to be a hotspot of microplastics accumulation due to the number of rivers that empty into the Arctic basin, yet we have very little data to support this idea in the more northerly parts of the Arctic Ocean. This is really important data to collect as the Arctic supports many key fisheries which might be impacted by the presence of microplastics.”
The team is also investigating the impact of man-made noise pollution on Arctic marine life and mammals, which can be particularly sensitive to sound. Using loudspeakers and microphones they are hoping to understand how sound travels through the polar seas, and how this relates to ice loss.
Prof Steve Simpson, of Exeter University, said: “It is critical that we establish baseline natural recordings in this newly exposed oceanic environment. These recordings will allow us to understand how human activities are changing the soundscape of the summer Arctic.”