Plastic pollution has become a global
environmental issue, reaching even the most pristine and
remote parts of our planet,
including Antarctica and the surrounding Southern Ocean.
Antarctica is one of the last remaining wildernesses on the planet. It is largely
unexplored and has few inhabitants
but is under increasing pressure from the human footprint. The Southern Ocean comprises around 10% of the global ocean. It is of critical importance to the equilibrium of the Earth system and exhibits distinctive and exceptional marine biodiversity, but it is now under threat from plastic pollution.
Plastic pollution in
Antarctica occurs almost everywhere, from open ocean to coastal environments, contaminating the water, sea ice and sediments around the continent and surrounding sub-Antarctic Islands. Entanglement of marine mammals and birds and ingestion of plastics by marine predators including fish, mammals, and birds, along with increasing numbers of reports of microplastics found in animals living on the seabed and in terrestrial food webs, are clear evidence of the extent of plastic pollution and a cause for serious concern.
The impact of plastic
pollution is affecting the resilience of Southern Ocean ecosystems and jeopardizing a delicate balance that has evolved over 40 million years. Plastic pollution is clearly a global concern, however the remoteness and difficulty of access to Antarctica make it difficult to investigate and quantify consequences telegram database users list on the unique Antarctic terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
Plastic pollution is just one piece of the puzzle
Southern Ocean biodiversity what is a website footer or what to write in the basement and ecosystems
are now more vulnerable than ever before, due to recent rapid environmental changes, including climate warming and ocean acidification. Thus, the unique ability of Antarctic organisms
to adapt to extreme conditions is already threatened by changes to our climate. Many of these species have narrow tolerance ranges and they are facing an additional threat from plastic pollution. Antarctic marine animals are becoming increasingly exposed to the combined presence of plastic pollution and human-induced climate change. Addressing the potential impact of plastic pollution in isolation does not allow us to fully predict consequences in years to come. It is critical to account for potential cumulative effects with other stressors. The interactions between climate change and micro- and nanoplastics are likely to bulk data magnify the potential for interactions with other toxicants, as well as lead to an enhanced susceptibility of Antarctic species to these stressors.
Plastic in the Southern Ocean is a global issue
Understanding the sources of plastics entering
from within and outside the Southern Ocean and quantifying the
scale of the problem are
essential to minimize any environmental threat to the
unique biodiversity and ecosystems of the region. Plastic found in the Southern Ocean is likely to have originated from both local and global sources, with new evidence that some items may have entered the ocean at lower latitudes, crossing perceived oceanographic barriers to reach Antarctic coasts.