CADIZ, SPAIN — Arctic waters have become the last stop for plastic waste dumped in the oceans and trash is piling up in the once pristine waters, according to researchers. <br /> <br />A study led by a team of scientists from the University of Cadiz in Spain shows warm surface currents bring plastic waste from densely populated coastlines up to the Arctic Ocean, where it becomes trapped. <br /> <br />The study was published on April 19 by Science Advances. <br /> <br />There are approximately 300 billion tiny pieces of plastic waste in the surface water and it is highly likely that there is even more waste on the seafloor. <br /> <br />It is estimated that the plastic waste stored in the Arctic accounts for about 3 percent of the 110 million tons of plastic waste in the oceans. <br /> <br />“We don’t fully understand the consequences the plastic is having or will have in our oceans … What we do know is that these consequences will be felt at greater scale in an ecosystem like [the Arctic]” Andrés Cózar Cabañas, the study’s lead author told the New York Times.
