• Health

Microplastic Accumulation Could Be 10X Worse Than Previously Thought

• microplastic
• oceans
• plastic pollution

by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer A new study has found that microplastic accumulation may be worse than previously thought and could carry with it the threat of disease. Microplastics could present health risks to the entire food chain, the study said, including to humans. As the world is grappling with the accumulation of single-use plastics during the […]

• Sustainability

Microplastics Float Through The Air, Cross Oceans, New Study Finds

• microplastic
• oceans
• plastic pollution

Plastic pollution is one of the direst environmental crises we face. Worse yet, nearly all the plastic ever created still exists in some form today yet much of it has merely broken down into microplastics–microscopic fragments of plastic that are ubiquitous in the environment. They’re in food, seaspray, and now, according to new research published […]

• Water

Comprehensive Mt. Everest Study Draws Attention to Human-Induced Damage

• Federated States of Micronesia
• glaciers
• microplastic
• Mount Everest

As National Geographic recently reported, on Friday new findings from the most comprehensive scientific expedition to Mt. Everest (known locally as Sagarmatha and Chomolangma) in history were released in the journal One Earth. This new research, part of the 2019 National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition, sheds crucial information about how climate change […]

• Land

Microplastics Pollution Found in Farm Soil

• farming
• microplastic
• plastic pollution
• soil

by Julia Fine, ODP Contributing Writer There is “a growing concern” over microplastics pollution in farm soils, Kate S. Petersen reported for Environmental Health News this week. Although we have long since known about the effects of microplastics in the ocean, this article showed that “most microplastics are actually accumulating on land, including agricultural areas.” […]

• Sustainability

Governments are Committed to Tackling Ocean Plastic, They Just Need to Stick to It

• microplastic
• Ocean Plastic
• plastic pollution

A recently released policy analysis from Duke University revealed that over the past decade, governments at every level have taken actions to prevent plastic waste from making it into the ocean. As Phys explained, the analysis finds, however, that the vast majority of new policies have focused specifically on plastic shopping bags and more data […]

• Ocean

Microplastic Pollution in the Ocean Is More Prevalent Than Previously Believed

• conservation
• environment
• microplastic
• ocean
• plastic
• science

We already know that microplastics (bits that are less than 5 mm) are omnipresent in the ocean, but now scientists believe that previous estimates about how much plastic is in the ocean are actually way too low. 

Why This Matters:  Microplastic is more abundant than the tiniest and one of the most abundant life forms in the ocean — zooplankton — if these estimates are correct.