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Armed with just a kayak and a self-built microplastic filter, Kristian Louis Jensen has spent the last decade paddling through the most \u201cpristine places\u201d on our planet.<\/p>\n
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During his Master\u2019s degree in environmental protection, the Inuit scientist developed \u2018the Plastsaq\u2019. This citizen-science tool allows kayakers and local communities to collect surface water samples containing debris from items such as abandoned bottles and packaging.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that work led me to ask a deeper question about the invisible footprint of humanity,\u201d he tells Euronews Green. It is this that inspired his most recent trip, over to a remote glacier in eastern Greenland<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018Fossil fuels in motion\u2019<\/p>\n Jensen kayaked to one of the most \u201cisolated corners of the Arctic\u201d, located hundreds of kilometres from any kind of road. He expected to find fibres and general plastic debris – which he did – but Jensen also stumbled across traces of car tire particles in his samples.<\/p>\n \u201cFinding them on a pristine glacier in eastern Greenland was a shock because it validated a terrifying thesis: these particles are no longer just an urban issue,\u201d Jensen says.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have become dust, airborne, and have travelled thousands of kilometres to the Arctic. This is \u2018fossil fuels in motion\u2019. It tells us that the Arctic is a \u2018sink\u2019 for the world\u2019s pollution.\u201d<\/p>\n With more than five billion tyres on the road globally, each loses around 10-30 per cent of its mass during its lifespan. <\/p>\n \u201cThat mass doesn\u2019t disappear,\u201d Jensen says. \u201cIt breaks down into toxic dust that settles at the very start of our food chain.\u201d<\/p>\n The impact of Greenland\u2019s microplastic pollution<\/p>\n Jensen\u2019s work has highlighted the far-reaching extent of microplastics<\/a>, which are starting to cause a trifecta of problems for local communities in Greenland. <\/p>\n \u201cEcologically, we\u2019re seeing early evidence that tire toxicity is high for Arctic species,\u201d he explains. \u201cFor instance, chemicals like 6PPD are lethal to Coho salmon.\u201d<\/p>\n Car tire pollution can also cause deformities in Atlantic cod eggs, threatening the very foundation of the nation\u2019s fishing industry.<\/p>\n For Indigenous communities, Greenland\u2019s polluted waters have become a matter of environmental justice that poses a serious health risk.<\/p>\n In urban areas, chronic exposure to these kinds of particles has already been linked to a slew of health issues such as worsening asthma and cardiac problems. <\/p>\n \u201cIn the Arctic, that threat is now settling on our food sources, turning a pristine environment into a repository for global waste,\u201d Jensen adds. \u201cThe higher latitudes and the people living in them are disproportionately being adversely affected by global pollution and climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018A critical blind spot\u2019: What pollution regulations miss<\/p>\n Scientists have long warned of Greenland<\/a>\u2019s growing microplastic issue – with multiple studies finding higher concentrations of tiny particles i<\/a>n sea ice in these remote areas compared to infamous ocean garbage patches.<\/p>\n But Jensen argues that there is a \u201ccritical blind spot\u201d in climate policy that aims to tackle this pervasive problem. <\/p>\n \u201cCurrently, we regulate what comes out of the tailpipe, but we ignore what wears off the tire,\u201d he warns. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is dangerous, given that tire particles are now recognised as a leading source of microplastics entering ecosystems globally.\u201d<\/p>\n Are fossil fuels to blame for Greenland\u2019s microplastic pollution?<\/p>\n Momentum to transition away from fossil fuels rapidly gained traction at last year\u2019s COP30 summit in Bel\u00e9m – with more than 90 countries including Germany, the Netherlands and the UK backing the idea of a roadmap.<\/p>\n However, following pushback from petrostates<\/a>, all mentions of a phaseout were scrubbed from the final deal. Hope for a fossil fuel-free future now lies outside of the UN\u2019s remit. In April, more than 85 countries will meet at Colombia\u2019s Global Fossil Fuel Phaseout conference, which will be co-hosted with the Netherlands.<\/p>\n