Wednesday May 11, 2022
SciTechDaily —
According to estimates, by 2040 the level of plastic pollution could reach 80 million metric tons (176 billion pounds) per year. Plastic particles have now been detected in virtually all spheres of the environment, e.g. in water bodies, the soil, and the air. Via ocean currents and rivers, the tiny plastic particles can even reach the Arctic, Antarctic, or ocean depths. A new overview study has now shown that wind, too, can transport these particles great distances – and much faster than water can: in the atmosphere, they can travel from their point of origin to the most remote corners of the planet in a matter of days. In the journal Nature Reviews Earth and Environment, an international team of researchers – including experts from the Alfred Wegener Institute, the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam, and the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel – explains how microplastic finds its way into the atmosphere and how it is subsequently transported.
Today, between 0.013 and 25 million metric tons of micro- and nanoplastic per year are transported up to thousands of kilometers by ocean air, snow, sea spray, and fog, crossing countries, continents, and oceans in the process. This estimate was arrived at by an international team of 33 researchers, including experts from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam (IASS), and the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel.