How Might Plastic Pollution Affect Antarctic Animals?
Antarctica is the least populated place on Earth, but the frozen continent and its surrounding Southern Ocean are still affected by human activities. Scientists have found large pieces of plastic such as fishing nets, and microscopic-sized pieces of plastic, too. Some plastics can be hundreds of tim...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/frym.2023.1096038 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2023.1096038/full |
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crfrontiers:10.3389/frym.2023.1096038 2024-02-11T09:58:55+01:00 How Might Plastic Pollution Affect Antarctic Animals? Rowlands, Emily Galloway, Tamara Jones-Williams, Kirstie Manno, Clara 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/frym.2023.1096038 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2023.1096038/full unknown Frontiers Media SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Frontiers for Young Minds volume 11 ISSN 2296-6846 General Medicine journal-article 2024 crfrontiers https://doi.org/10.3389/frym.2023.1096038 2024-01-26T09:59:57Z Antarctica is the least populated place on Earth, but the frozen continent and its surrounding Southern Ocean are still affected by human activities. Scientists have found large pieces of plastic such as fishing nets, and microscopic-sized pieces of plastic, too. Some plastics can be hundreds of times smaller than a grain of sand, and these are called nanoplastics. The Southern Ocean, which surrounds Antarctica, is also warming faster than other oceans and is becoming more acidic. Thus, Antarctic marine animals that have lived in an untouched, stable environment for millions of years are now being exposed to plastic pollution and human-caused climate change. We are studying how Antarctic marine life is coping with plastic pollution in this quickly changing ocean. We focus on Antarctic krill, a small crustacean that supports the Antarctic marine food web. Findings show that krill embryos subjected to ocean acidification and nanoplastics develop less than embryos in ordinary seawater conditions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Antarctica Ocean acidification Southern Ocean Frontiers (Publisher) Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Frontiers for Young Minds 11 |
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General Medicine |
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General Medicine Rowlands, Emily Galloway, Tamara Jones-Williams, Kirstie Manno, Clara How Might Plastic Pollution Affect Antarctic Animals? |
topic_facet |
General Medicine |
description |
Antarctica is the least populated place on Earth, but the frozen continent and its surrounding Southern Ocean are still affected by human activities. Scientists have found large pieces of plastic such as fishing nets, and microscopic-sized pieces of plastic, too. Some plastics can be hundreds of times smaller than a grain of sand, and these are called nanoplastics. The Southern Ocean, which surrounds Antarctica, is also warming faster than other oceans and is becoming more acidic. Thus, Antarctic marine animals that have lived in an untouched, stable environment for millions of years are now being exposed to plastic pollution and human-caused climate change. We are studying how Antarctic marine life is coping with plastic pollution in this quickly changing ocean. We focus on Antarctic krill, a small crustacean that supports the Antarctic marine food web. Findings show that krill embryos subjected to ocean acidification and nanoplastics develop less than embryos in ordinary seawater conditions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rowlands, Emily Galloway, Tamara Jones-Williams, Kirstie Manno, Clara |
author_facet |
Rowlands, Emily Galloway, Tamara Jones-Williams, Kirstie Manno, Clara |
author_sort |
Rowlands, Emily |
title |
How Might Plastic Pollution Affect Antarctic Animals? |
title_short |
How Might Plastic Pollution Affect Antarctic Animals? |
title_full |
How Might Plastic Pollution Affect Antarctic Animals? |
title_fullStr |
How Might Plastic Pollution Affect Antarctic Animals? |
title_full_unstemmed |
How Might Plastic Pollution Affect Antarctic Animals? |
title_sort |
how might plastic pollution affect antarctic animals? |
publisher |
Frontiers Media SA |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/frym.2023.1096038 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2023.1096038/full |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Antarctica Ocean acidification Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Antarctica Ocean acidification Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Frontiers for Young Minds volume 11 ISSN 2296-6846 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/frym.2023.1096038 |
container_title |
Frontiers for Young Minds |
container_volume |
11 |
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1790594752060588032 |