Plastic debris on remote islands raises temperatures by 2.5C and threatens turtle populations

Study of Henderson Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands finds plastic acts as an insulator, making sand hotter and leading to more female turtle offspring

Accumulated plastic debris on the beaches of two remote island groups increased local maximum temperatures by nearly 2.5C, new research has found.

A study of Henderson Island in the South Pacific and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, a remote territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean, found that plastic pollution acts as an insulator, increasing the temperature of the underlying sand.