The limit human activity has pushed this planet to is appalling. In saddening news, researchers have reportedly discovered small pieces of plastic in Antarctic sea ice. They found the microplastics in an ice core taken from the frozencontinent and believe it is the first such evidence of its kind.
However,similar microplastic pollution has been found previously in Antarctic surfacewaters, sediment and in snow.?Accordingto a Guardian report, the study found 14 different kinds of plastic, and onaverage, about 12 pieces of plastic were found per litre of water.
Themost commonly found polymer was polyethene (PE), which includes LDPE and HDPEfragments, used to make all manner of goods from bottles to window frames.
Theseaccount for more than a third (34 per cent) of all fragments found.
Thenext, most commonly found polymers were polypropylene (PP) and polyamide (PA)which includes nylon, accounting for 15 and 14 per cent, respectively.
AnnaKelly from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania,was the lead author of the study, published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin.
Kellysaid: ¡°The remoteness of the Southern Ocean has not been enough to protect itfrom plastic pollution, which is now pervasive across the world¡¯s oceans.¡±
Thefind comes after it was reported last year that tiny pieces of plastic werefound in ice cores drilled in the Arctic.
Thispiece of research by US-based researchers on ice floes during an 18-dayicebreaker expedition through the Northwest Passage unearthed evidence ofplastic.
AssociateProfessor Delphine Lannuzel was part of the study which drilled the ice coremore than ten years ago, two kilometers from the Antarctic coast.
Analysisrevealed the ice was surrounded by algae, indicating it was being ingested bysome lifeforms.
'Seaice is habitat for key foraging species,' Dr Lannuzel said. 'Krill defineseverything else in the food chain and it relies on sea ice algae to grow.Microplastics havepreviously been discovered in Antarctica¡¯s surface waters, sediment and insnow, but the new discovery could mean the region¡¯s krill ¨C which feed on algaefrom sea ice.?