Plastic pollution in the ocean is officially everywhere, even Antarctica

Given Antarctica’s extreme location on the bottom of the Earth, scientists long believed the continent was free from the plastic pollution tarnishing the rest of the world.

But not even this remote expanse is safe from our crap, a new study shows.

Plastic debris was far worse in the Antarctic than expected, researchers from University of Hull in England and British Antarctic Survey said this week. Levels of microplastics in the region were five times higher than what you’d normally expect to find from local sources, such as research stations and ships.

More about Science, Wildlife, Antarctic, Antarctica, and Plastic