12/06/2026
At Glasgow Science Festival Glasgow Science Festival we also spoke about the implications microplastics have on the Polar regions!
In recent years, substantial amounts of plastics have been introduced into the environment, and as a result have entered marine ecosystems.
Microplastics which are defined as tiny plastic particles less than 5mm have now become a global concern.
Consequently, microplastics have been documented in vast and remote areas like the Southern Ocean / Antarctica.
Despite Antarctica being a remote and pristine environment. Antarctica is not immune to anthropogenic environmental provisions like microplastics, and have been documented in multiple environmental zones, including ice, deep - sea sediments, surface waters, snow and biota. Due to their positive buoyancy and their small size, microplastics are potentially more available for ingestion by tiny organisms such as zooplankton, further posing significant threats to polar ecosystems.
