Artículo | 14 Mayo, 2018

Research to determine whether ocean plastics accelerate Arctic melt

IUCN and academic partners are conducting research in the Arctic and Baltic regions to establish to what extent plastic particles accelerate ice melt in the Arctic Circle. Dark plastic particles attract sunlight, warm up and melt the ice around it. The ongoing research aims to quantify how much plastic is needed to provoke that effect.

Ice and plastic interaction experiment, Manitoba, Canada

Fixing the 24 pools before adding different concentrations of microplastics

Photo: Joao Sousa IUCN

Aerial view of experiment at SERF, Manitoba

Aerial view of Sea-ice Environmental Research Facility (SERF), Manitoba with the 24 pools in place

Photo: Joao Sousa IUCN

Aerial view of the Swedish field test site

The field testing of the experiment results took place in Skelleftea, Sweden

Photo: Joao Sousa IUCN

Drilling and collecting ice cores north of Lulea Sweden to measure the concentration of microplastics and compare.jpeg

Collecting ice cores north of Lulea, Sweden to measure the concentration of microplastics and compare with the research results in Canada.

Photo: Joao Sousa IUCN

Scientists will attempt to establish how much plastic might be embedded in ice across the region, and to what extent high concentrations of microplastics and plastics in ice might accelerate climate change. They are also looking at quantifying plastic leakage from all riparian countries around the Baltic, and assessing likely impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity.

The research project is the subject of a short film - Microplastics in the Baltic.