Environment

Plastic Pollution

An algae that commonly grows beneath Arctic sea ice now contains 10 times as many microplastic particles as the seawater it lives in. Researchers from Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research made the discovery after collecting samples of the Melosira arctica algae.

They found that because the algae has a slimy, sticky texture, it collects microplastic particles from the atmosphere before it dies and collects into clumps.

The increased weight causes those clumps to sink straight down, “as if in an elevator to the seafloor.” Since the algae is an important food source for many sea creatures, the plastic pollution could eventually contaminate much of the Arctic marine food web.