How Does Plastic Get into the Arctic?
U
ntouched vast expanses of ice as far as the eye can see. A pristine wilderness that appears clean and pure, completely untouched by human influence. Did you also just immediately think of the Arctic? The one place on earth that belongs entirely to animals and where it is a rarity to stumble across traces of human life? Then I am sorry to disappoint you. The first impression is deceptive. Led by Dr. Melanie Bergmann, researchers at the German Alfred Wegener Institute published a study in April 2022 in which they report finding microplastics both on the Arctic seafloor and in icebergs. But how can that be, since so few people live there? In fact, the low population density in Arctic regions
by Solveig Schneider Gießen, Germany
contributes to the problem. In small Arctic communities, recycling facilities are rare and waste management is handled inadequately. Often plastic waste is simply collected by self-haul at the edge of the sea in large dumpsites. More effective community-haul systems are limited to larger communities, such as Greenland's capital, Nuuk. This can lead to higher microplastic densities in certain areas. "In the Canadian Arctic,” the
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