Scientists Discover Microplastics In Antarctica’s Most Remote Regions – As They Warn ‘nowhere On Earth Is Truly Untouched’ – Dailymail

 Scientists Discover Microplastics In Antarctica’s Most Remote Regions – As They Warn ‘nowhere On Earth Is Truly Untouched’

The sheer scale of Earth’s plastic problem has been laid bare in a new study.

Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have discovered microplastics in the snow near some of Antarctica’s deep field camps.

This is the first time these tiny pieces of plastic – some as small as a red blood cell – have been found in such remote locations.

An initial analysis suggests that the microplastics have come from local sources.

‘This could come from outdoor clothing, or the ropes and flags that are used to mark safe routes in and around the camp,’ said Dr Clara Manno, an ocean ecologist at BAS.

Worryingly, the implications of microplastics in this frozen wilderness remain unclear.

‘Despite stringent regulations on materials entering Antarctica, our findings reveal microplastic contamination even in remote and highly controlled areas,’ said Dr Kirstie Jones-Williams, co-author of the study.

‘This underscores the pervasive nature of plastic pollution-demonstrating that nowhere on Earth is truly untouched.’

For the study, the researchers analysed samples collected from three field camps at the Union Glacier and the Schanz Glacier – two remote areas at the South Pole.

Previous studies have relied on scientists hand-picking particles and fibres out of samples for analysis.

Instead, the BAS team used a newer technique that involves melting snow through filter paper and scanning it at a higher resolution.

Their analysis revealed microplastics at concentrations ranging from 73 to 3,099 particles per liter of snow.

The vast majority (95 per cent) of the particles were smaller than 50 micrometres – the size of most human cells.

According to the researchers, this suggests previous studies may have underestimated the true extent of microplastic pollution in Antarctica, due to the less sensitive detection methods.

‘With these developing techniques, we’re now able to analyse microplastics of a much smaller size than before,’ said Dr Emily Rowlands, co-author of the study.

‘In fact, we found microplastic abundance in these snow samples to be 100 times higher than in previous studies of Antarctic snow samples.’

🔗SOURCE ➡️ Dailymail

Follow us on Minds / X / Substack

Boost This Channel

Follow ➡️ @PsyopDaily

READ FULL ARTICLE: This article originally appeared on Dailymail

Share on Telegram