How hundreds of tons of plastic trash end up in Arctic Ocean

A seal lies on an iceberg in front of the research vessel Tara. (Anna Deniaud / Tara Expeditions Foundation)

 

 

Although the world’s other ocean “garbage patches” are significantly larger than the plastic accumulation in the Arctic, the average concentrations of plastic found there were comparable to those found in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.

In a 2014 study, Cózar and his team estimated those oceans contain 10,000 to 35,000 tons of plastic pollution, which almost never fully decomposes on its own. Their latest findings suggest 3% of that global total is floating in the Arctic.

 

 

 

Source: http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-arctic-plastic-pollution-20170502-htmlstory.html#nws=true