Important Innovations

High Amounts of Microplastics Found in Arctic Sea Ice Source:  Northwest Passage Project Global Plastic Pollution Even in the most remote corners of the Earth - the Canadian Arctic - very significant amounts of plastic contamination have just been discovered.  A team of US scientists spent 18 days drilling large quantities of Arctic ice in four separate locations and then analyzing it.  Their discovery of high amounts of microplastic contamination in the ice is disturbing and underscores the global extent of plastic pollution.  For a great news blog with more details, go to Important Innovations Collection: Microplastic Contamination in Arctic Ice : New Evidence of Global Plastic Pollution Source:  Northwest Passage Project Even in Remote Regions of the Canadian Arctic US s...

Environmental Wake-Up Call: New Scientific Discovery in Remote Pyrenees Mountains Source: Stock Image of Pyrenees Mountains Plastic Particles Inhalable in the Air Plastic particles found in the Pyrenees Mountains suggest they are now travelling in the air.  Scientists from the Ecolab in France and the University of Strathclyde in Scotland have found them in the air in a very remote area of the Pyrenees Mountain between France and Spain.  It suggests that plastic is not just polluting the ocean but also the air we breathe. Microplastics Microplastics are very small pieces of plastic waste, produced when plastics breakdown.  Many of the fragments found by the scientists were small enough to be inhaled.  Very few people live in the remote mountainous area that they focused on indicating that the microplastics blew in with the wind from a populated area 60 miles away. Findings and  Conclusion for the Environment Over a five month period, the scien...