Part Two / How our Planet is Changing

2.13 Microplastics

All online sources accessed on

  1. are accumulating in the atmosphere Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change: The IPCC Scientific Assessment, ed. J. T. Houghton et al. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar1/wg1/; Stubbins, A., et al., ‘Plastics in the Earth system’, Science, 373 (6550), 2021: 51–5, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb0354.

    are accumulating in the … ocean Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 1995: The Science of Climate Change. Contribution of WGI to the Second Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, ed. J. T. Houghton et al. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar2/wg1/.

    Fifteen to 40 per cent of mismanaged plastic waste Jambeck, J. R., et al., ‘Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean’, Science, 347 (6223), 2015: 768–71, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1260352.

    Repeated sampling along beaches and in the open ocean Galgani, F., et al., ‘Are litter, plastic and microplastic quantities increasing in the ocean?’, Microplastics Nanoplastics, 1, 2021: Article 2, https://doi.org/10.1186/s43591-020-00002-8.

    simple budget calculations indicate Eriksen, M., et al., ‘Plastic pollution in the South Pacific subtropical gyre’, Marine Pollution Bulletin, 68 (1–2), 2013: 71–6, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2012.12.021.

    In recent years these tiny plastics have been found Peng, X., et al., ‘Microplastics contaminate the deepest part of the world’s ocean’, Geochemical Perspectives Letters, 9, 2018: 1–5, https://doi.org/10.7185/geochemlet.1829.

    in offshore sediments along the continental shelf Filgueiras, A. V., et al., ‘Microplastic distribution in surface sediments along the Spanish Mediterranean continental shelf’, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 26 (21), 2019: 21264–73, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05341-5.

    just below the ocean’s surface, where light does not penetrate Choy, C. A., et al., ‘The vertical distribution and biological transport of marine microplastics across the Epipelagic and Mesopelagic water column’, Scientific Reports, 9, 2019: Article 7843, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44117-2; Pabortsava, K., and Lampitt, R. S., ‘High concentrations of plastic hidden beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean’, Nature Communications, 11, 2020: Article 4073, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17932-9.

    high concentrations around the Arctic Ocean Ross, P. S., et al., ‘Pervasive distribution of polyester fibres in the Arctic Ocean is driven by Atlantic inputs’, Nature Communications, 12, 2021: Article 106, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20347-1.

  2. their legs ensnared in microplastic fibres Kang, J. H., et al., ‘Can zooplankton be entangled by microfibers in the marine environment? Laboratory studies’, Water, 12 (12), 2020: Article 3302, https://doi.org/10.3390/w12123302.

    they fill their stomachs with microbeads Cole, M., et al., ‘The impact of polystyrene microplastics on feeding, function and fecundity in the marine copepod Calanus helgolandicus’, Environmental Science and Technology, 49 (2), 2015: 1130–37, https://doi.org/10.1021/es504525u.

    coated with pathogenic bacteria and toxins Galloway, T. S., et al., ‘Interactions of microplastic debris throughout the marine ecosystem’, Nature Ecology and Evolution, 1 (5), 2017: Article 0116, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0116,

    still uncertain if the net effect is warming or cooling Revell, L. E., et al., ‘Direct radiative effects of airborne microplastics’, Nature, 598 (7881), 2021: 462–7, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03864-x.

    a significant source of atmospheric microplastic Allen, S., et al., ‘Examination of the ocean as a source for atmospheric microplastics’, PLOS One, 15 (5), 2020: Article e0232746, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232746.

    potentially as disruptive … as global warming Kvale, K., et al., ‘Zooplankton grazing of microplastic can accelerate global loss of ocean oxygen’, Nature Communications, 12, 2021: Article 2358, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22554-w.

    a disproportionately large influence on planetary function Zhu, X., ‘The plastic cycle – an unknown branch of the carbon cycle’, Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, 2021: Article 609243, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.609243

    The … problem looks set to intensify https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421521002883

    both leaky and incapable of recycling Jambeck, J. R., et al., ‘Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean’, Science, 347 (6223), 2015: 768–71, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1260352.

    the phenomenon of ‘aspirational recycling’ Albeck-Ripka, L., ‘6 things you’re recycling wrong’, New York Times, 29 May 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/29/climate/recycling-wrong-mistakes.html.

    lack of accountability in multinational waste export systems McCormick, E., et al., ‘Where does your plastic go? Global investigation reveals America’s dirty secret’, Guardian, 7 June 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/17/recycled-plastic-america-global-crisis.