Polar Plastics

Microplastic pollution has long been found in every part of the globe. Much smaller (and potentially much more dangerous) nanoplastics have now been recorded for the first time in both of the Earth's polar regions (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/21/nanoplastic-pollution-found-at-both-of-earths-poles-for-first-time). A paper in the journal, Environmental Research, notes that Greenland ice cores show that nanoplastic pollution reached the North polar region at least 50 years ago (around 1965). This pollutant is thought to have been blown in on winds from North America. Until recently, however, nanoplastic pollution had not been recorded in the relatively pristine Antarctica. Ice samples, taken in McMurdo Sound, now contain this pollutant. In this case, the nanoplastics probably arrived on ocean currents. The long-term consequences of nanoplastic pollution could be quite devastating.