Fram pollution observatory anthropogenic debris pollution in the Arctic
The exponential increase in plastic production is reflected in the amount of waste produced, yet the waste management infrastructures and practices have been insufficient to regulate and govern the extensive plastic waste entering the environment, which was estimated as 19 – 23 million metric tons i...
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| Other Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Universität Bremen
2023
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| Online Access: | https://media.suub.uni-bremen.de/handle/elib/6503 https://doi.org/10.26092/elib/1988 https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:gbv:46-elib65038 |
| Summary: | The exponential increase in plastic production is reflected in the amount of waste produced, yet the waste management infrastructures and practices have been insufficient to regulate and govern the extensive plastic waste entering the environment, which was estimated as 19 – 23 million metric tons in 2016 for aquatic systems. Disturbing footage of pervasive pollution or an increasing number of sightings of encounters with charismatic species not only draw public attention but also boosted an interest within the scientific community. Soon enough, it was realized that anthropogenic debris pollution has even reached uninhabited remote islands and polar regions. Globally, there are thousands of studies on regional or large-scale anthropogenic debris pollution, yet a holistic approach to identify the distribution patterns is mostly lacking. In this regard, with the aim of measuring anthropogenic debris and microplastic pollution levels in all ecosystem compartments in the Arctic, the FRAM Pollution Observatory represents a rare case. The comparison of findings from different ecosystem compartments allowed us to explore and identify the sources, transportation pathways and sinks of anthropogenic debris in the Arctic. In this dissertation, I summarise the findings obtained by the studies of the FRAM Pollution Observatory. The main chapters deal with the distribution of macro-debris floating in Arctic surface waters (Chapter 2.1) and on the deep seafloor (Chapter 2.2) and with the distribution of microplastic throughout the water column and in deep-sea sediments (Chapter 3). However, in the general discussion (Chapter 4), I focused on the findings from all ecosystem compartments including sea ice, snow, Svalbard beaches and biota. Overall, the majority of anthropogenic macro-debris in the Arctic is plastic. In all ecosystem compartments, high levels of pollution were detected, which are comparable to those reported from more densely populated regions of the world. Quantities of floating macro-debris in Arctic waters ... |
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