Marine Litter

“The Litter is a Whole New Dimension”

AWI biologist Lars Gutow shares insights into his expeditions to the North Sea and Sargasso Sea, where he investigated how marine litter is spreading
Pathways of litter into the ocean

Plastic litter is present in large amounts in practically all the oceans. But where does all the litter come from, anyway? And how does it end up in the sea? This infographic shows the pathway of the litter into the world's oceans and the consequences that litter can have there
Using Expertise to Combat Marine Litter

The expertise of the AWI researchers is not just of interest to the scientific community and the media. Their advice is increasingly sought after among governmental authorities and political decision-makers
Free download: book about marine litter

AWI scientists published a book about marine litter. You can download it free of charge.

Compact knowledge

10 Questions, 10 Answers

These ten questions and answers sum up the current knowledge about marine litter

Arctic

In Every Nook and Cranny

AWI researcher Melanie Bergmann analyses the level of pollution on the ocean floor of the Arctic

Analysis with high-tech equipment

Tracking down microplastic

AWI researcher Gunnar Gerdts is working to gauge the extent of the pollution in arctic sea ice

Gallery

Microplastics: A truly colourful pile

Scientists define microplastics as collection of small and large fragments, pellets, fibers, sheets, and other objects smaller than five millimeters. They come in different shapes and colors - a diversity that it actually breathtaking, as this gallery shows.

The photos are provided by our colleagues from the Chesapeake Bay Program. The images were taken by Will Parson at the laboratory of Dr. Lance Yonkos in the Department of Environmental Science & Technology at the University of Maryland. Find more images on the Chesapeake Bay Program Flickr page.

News

Expedition

RV Heincke expedition ends successfully

FACTS (Fluxes and Fate of Microplastics in Northern European Waters) is a European project funded by JPI Oceans and will create new knowledge and improve our mechanistic understanding of the sources, transport, occurrence, and fate of small microplastics from European waters to the Arctic.

Review Article in Science

Focus on global plastic pollution

Current rates of plastic emissions globally may trigger effects that we will not be able to reverse, researchers from Germany, Sweden and Norway report in a new study published in the prestigious journal Science on 2 July.