EARTH.COM - Scientists measuring microplastic deposition across the Sierra Nevada during snowstorms found plastic particles at every single site they sampled.
The sites included the most remote locations, accessible only by chairlift or on skis, far beyond any road.
The findings matter well beyond the mountains. The Sierra Nevada snowpack supplies roughly 30% of California’s freshwater.
What falls with the snow eventually makes its way into that supply.
Skiing to the sampling sites
Lead researcher Aleksandra Karapetrova, an environmental toxicologist at the University of California, Riverside, collected snow at seven locations across the Sierra Nevada during active storms. Getting there was difficult.