GRID-Arendal maps plastic debris in the Arctic

Joan Fabres, Tina Schoolmeester and Riccardo Pravettoni*

By GRID-Arendal

February 12^th, 2018

The number of news stories about the problem of marine litter in the planet’s oceans continues to increase. As it does, we learn that no part of the world is immune.

A recent British Broadcasting Corporation story on one man’s attempt to clean the beaches in “pristine” northern Norway reinforces the point.

Scientists studying Arctic coast and waters, as well as the people who live in the region, have been warning for some time about the rapidly increasing amounts of plastic waste reaching the Arctic.

But where is it coming from? GRID-Arendal has produced a map to help answer this question.

GRID-Arendal maps plastic debris in the Arctic

Plastic moves on ocean currents. The Arctic Ocean plays an important role in the circulation of what is called the global thermohaline circulation. This system not only has a major effect on the global climate, it also carries plastic from other parts of the world into the Arctic.

Other local sources include plastic from fisheries and shipping. And there are likely local sources of waste from the scattered communities along the Arctic coast.

Based on global data, this new map shows the relative importance of fishing in the Arctic and neighbouring areas. It is important to note that the yellow circles represent relative fishing intensity and not plastic that comes from fisheries. It is therefore a proxy to the likelihood of litter from the activities from this sector. The grey circles represent the number of ship passages in a certain area.

A quick analysis of this data shows that the Denmark Strait, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea are main fishing areas in the Atlantic part of the Arctic Ocean while the western Bering Sea is the focus of most of the fishing activity in the Pacific sector.

Plastic waste from Arctic land based activities can only be assessed, again, by means of proxy indicators that highlight regions that are most likely to be sources. Included on the map are areas of population within 50 kilometres from the coastline (brown circles) and areas with infrastructure (roads, buildings, etc.). The maps shows these areas are likely sources of plastic debris through surface runoff (green circles).

No matter what the source, there is little doubt that the global ocean circulation influences the accumulation of plastic particles in the Arctic Ocean. Plastics can quickly break down into smaller pieces. All these small particles, much less visible than the larger debris washed up on Arctic beaches that can be traced to local sources, interact with organisms and may be compromising the health and sustainability of marine ecosystems to an extent that we do not fully understand.

This new map is another step on the way to understanding the source of the problem in the Arctic.

*GEO-GRAPHICS

Footnotes

Header photo by Peter Prokosch

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FootNotes

Header photo by Peter Prokosch

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GRID-Arendal maps plastic debris in the Arctic

Joan Fabres, Tina Schoolmeester and Riccardo Pravettoni*

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