Microplastics found in fresh Antarctic snow for first time

• Scientists have found microplastics — plastic pieces much smaller than a grain of rice — in freshly fallen Antarctic snow for the first time, which they said has the potential to influence the climate by accelerating melting of ice.

• The findings, published recently in The Cryosphere journal, bring to light a serious threat to the Antarctic region.

• Previous studies have found that microplastics have negative impacts on the health of the environment, limiting growth, reproduction, and general biological functions in organisms, as well as negative implications for humans.

• In late 2019, Alex Aves, a PHD student at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand collected snow samples from the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica.

• At the time, there had been few studies investigating the presence of microplastics in the air, and it was unknown how widespread this problem was.

• Once back in the lab, the researchers found that there were plastic particles in every sample from the remote sites on the Ross Ice Shelf too, and that the findings would be of global significance.

• Finding microplastics in fresh Antarctic snow highlights the extent of plastic pollution into even the most remote regions of the world.

• On a wider scale, the presence of microplastic particles in the air has the potential to influence the climate by accelerating melting of snow and ice.

• The researchers found an average of 29 microplastic particles per litre of melted snow, which is higher than marine concentrations reported previously from the surrounding Ross Sea and in Antarctic sea ice.

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