Plastic pollution in the Arctic

peer reviewed Plastic pollution is now pervasive in the Arctic, even in areas with no apparent human activity, such as the deep seafloor. In this Review, we describe the sources and impacts of Arctic plastic pollution, including plastic debris and microplastics, which have infiltrated terrestrial an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature Reviews Earth & Environment
Main Authors: Bergmann, Melanie, Collard, France, Fabres, Joan, Gabrielsen, Geir W., Provencher, Jennifer F., Rochman, Chelsea M., van Sebille, Erik, Tekman, Mine B.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Springer Nature 2022
Subjects:
Pollution
Microplastic
Arctic
Climate Change
Cryosphere
Fauna
Ocean Currents
Atmosphere
Sources
Life sciences
Environmental sciences & ecology
Sciences du vivant
Sciences de l’environnement & écologie
Climate change
Online Access:https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/295843
https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-022-00279-8
Description
Summary:peer reviewed Plastic pollution is now pervasive in the Arctic, even in areas with no apparent human activity, such as the deep seafloor. In this Review, we describe the sources and impacts of Arctic plastic pollution, including plastic debris and microplastics, which have infiltrated terrestrial and aquatic systems, the cryosphere and the atmosphere. Although some pollution is from local sources — fisheries, landfills, wastewater and offshore industrial activity — distant regions are a substantial source, as plastic is carried from lower latitudes to the Arctic by ocean currents, atmospheric transport and rivers. Once in the Arctic, plastic pollution accumulates in certain areas and affects local ecosystems. Population-level information is sparse, but interactions such as entanglements and ingestion of marine debris have been recorded for mammals, seabirds, fish and invertebrates. Early evidence also suggests interactions between climate change and plastic pollution. Even if plastic emissions are halted today, fragmentation of legacy plastic will lead to an increasing microplastic burden in Arctic ecosystems, which are already under pressure from anthropogenic warming. Mitigation is urgently needed at both regional and international levels to decrease plastic production and utilization, achieve circularity and optimize solid waste management and wastewater treatment.

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