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We estimate up to 14 million tonnes of microplastics lie on the seafloor. It’s worse than we thought
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Deep-sea sediment sampling estimates up to 14 million tonnes of microplastics have accumulated on the ocean floor, roughly 35 times the estimated weight of plastic floating on the ocean surface. This finding fundamentally changes the understanding of where plastic pollution resides and suggests the long-term ecological burden on marine ecosystems is far greater than surface measurements have indicated.
This is up to 35 times more than the estimated weight of plastic pollution on the ocean’s surface.
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Far more microplastics floating in oceans than thought
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A new sampling method revealed that southern ocean microplastic concentrations are 37 times higher than previously estimated, suggesting that existing models have dramatically underestimated the scale of plastic pollution in Earth's most remote marine environments.
Millions of tonnes of nanoplastics are polluting the ocean
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Researchers highlight that millions of tonnes of nanoplastics smaller than a human hair are polluting the ocean, with these particles capable of passing through cell walls and entering the marine food web with poorly understood consequences.
Pristine Antarctic fjords contain similar levels of microplastics to open oceans near big civilisations
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Microplastics were detected in a pristine Antarctic fjord recently exposed by glacier retreat at concentrations comparable to open ocean waters near heavily populated regions, demonstrating that even newly revealed polar environments are already contaminated. This finding confirms that microplastic pollution is now truly global, reaching the most remote and ecologically sensitive habitats on Earth.
Simulated microplastics lurk below the ocean surface
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Researchers developed a computer model showing that algae growing on floating plastic debris and ocean density gradients cause microplastics to sink below the surface, making them much harder to detect and remove. This finding suggests that ocean plastic pollution is far more widespread in subsurface waters than surface surveys indicate.
Microplastic pollution is everywhere, even in the exhaled breath of dolphins – new research
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Researchers detected microplastics in the exhaled breath of wild dolphins, demonstrating that marine mammals are inhaling airborne plastic particles and providing new evidence of how pervasive microplastic pollution has become across ocean ecosystems.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.