We all know our plastic problem is out of control. So far, humans have produced more than 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic, and that number is only growing. Now, a new study in Scientific Reports claims that the problem goes deeper than we thought — literally.

The Plastic Beneath
An Australian team of researchers traveled to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands (CKI), a remote archipelago in the Indian Ocean that’s roughly 1,700 miles off the northwest coast of Australia. There, they surveyed