Waste in the Arctic

Waste is inevitable and it all has to go somewhere. Litter and pollution is human error. We are the ones who think that throwing a small plastic bag into the ocean is not a big deal. Every year, the United States generates approximately 230 million tons of "trash"--about 4.6 pounds per person per day. Less than one-quarter of it is recycled; the rest is incinerated or buried in landfills.




 This topic reminds me of the movie WALL-E, short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-class. It is a Disney movie from 2008 about a lonely robot who picks up trash one piece at a time. He is the last robot on Earth who spends his days tidying up the planet. It takes place in the future when Earth has become an overgrown wasteland due to humans neglect and consumerism. As a child, I did not really understand the whole theme and lesson of this movie. Now that I am older, I understand the consequences of human error. It is scary to think that Earth becoming a wasteland could be a possible result of our carelessness in the future. 

Arctic Plastic

In the beautiful Arctic region, there are tons of disgusting waste and garbage just like everywhere else. Plastic waste is beginning to pile up in the Arctic. Researchers at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) found fragments of packaging, paints, nylon, polyester and cellulose acetate which is commonly used in making cigarette filters in every sample they took in 2014 and 2015. Scientists have found a record amount of plastic trapped in the Arctic sea ice. Around 12,000 pieces of microplastic particles per liter of sea ice were found from 5 different regions in the Arctic. As the Arctic sea ice melts as a result of global warming, the plastics that were encased in the sea ice are able to move around the region. The melting sea ice allows more ships to pass through the Arctic region which can result in more pollution and trash. Especially with luxury cruise ships, known to produce a ton of solid waste per day. Also, researches have found trash and objects from all different parts of the world.

Norwegian Arctic

Apparently, plastic waste is accumulating even in the pristine wilderness of the Norwegian Arctic. There are huge amounts of microplastic fragments found in the sea ice. In 2013, scientists found over 200 different pieces of microplastics in many fishes stomaches. A large amount of this waste comes from discarded fishing gear. International fisheries are contributing to this issue. Animals get caught in fishing nets that were thrown overboard. Some creatures have been found tangled up on the beaches, for example, raindeers get their antlers stuck and cannot release them. Norway's environment Minister Ola Elvestuen told BBC News: "It's disturbing - there's nowhere on Earth that's so far away that its not affected by plastics." 

Here is a link to the article including a video on the Arctic:

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42947155 

 

Ocean Currents

Above the dotted line represents the Arctic Circle. As you can see, not many warm ocean currents travel into the Arctic Circle. The currents are generally in the Greenland Sea, east of Greenland and in the Barents Sea near Norway and Russia. These areas accumulate plenty of trash. 

Sources

Stevens, Alison Pearce. “Plastic Trash Rides Ocean Currents to the Arctic.” Science News for Students, 17 July 2017, www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/plastic-trash-rides-ocean-currents-arctic.

Metcalfe, John, et al. “We're Trashing the Arctic. Literally.” Mother Jones, 23 June 2017, www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/02/trash-plastic-arctic-ocean-ships/.

Harrabin, Roger. “Plastic Waste 'Building up' in Arctic.” BBC News, BBC, 8 Feb. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42947155.

Taylor, Matthew. “Record Levels of Plastic Discovered in Arctic Sea Ice.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 24 Apr. 2018, www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/24/record-levels-of-plastic-discovered-in-arctic-sea-ice.