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A vast ocean-sieving expedition across the Atlantic has revealed that there is as much as 21 million tonnes of plastic particles, many smaller than the diameter for a human hair, suspended in the top 200 metres of the ocean.
The research, led by the UK鈥檚 National Oceanography Centre, shows that the amount of microplastic in the ocean is much higher than studies have previously estimated.

Science correspondent Victoria Gill explores how the issue is playing out on the British coastline, where a squeezy bottle from the 1970s was recently found on the shore. She explores the scale of the problem and how the the coronavirus pandemic has reignited our reliance on single-use plastics.

Photo: Plastic pellets (nurdles) found on a beach in North Berwick, UK Credit: Fidra / Clare McIntyre