Frozen polar waters host a critical species of algae. Accumulating plastic particles could threaten the whole ecosystem.
Then, there’s the way the pollution could be hurting the algae itself. Laboratory experiments of other algal species have shown that microplasticsan organism’s ability to photosynthesize and damage algal cells. “We don’t yet know how widely this occurs amongst different algae and if this also affects ice algae,” said Bergmann; the impact of microplastics seems to vary a lot by species, she added.
For now, all of this is still a question mark. More research is needed to understand how microplastics travel through the food web and what they do to the organisms that ingest them . But if scientific experiments don’t soon reveal the consequences of our plastic dependence, time probably will. “As microplastic concentrations are increasing, we will see an increase in its effects. In certain areas or species, we may cross critical thresholds,” Bergmann said.
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