BERLIN — Researchers are sounding the alarm on plastic pollution at sea.

The Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany plans to present nearly 2,600 research papers on the topic to the United Nations in March.

Researchers at the institute found that pollution in the water is already reaching concerning levels and will only continue to grow If action isn’t taken.

“We find it in the deepest ocean trenches, at the sea surface and in Arctic sea ice,” said biologist Melanie Bergmann who co-authored the study.

Some regions — such as the Mediterranean, the East China and Yellow Seas — already contain dangerous levels of plastic, while others risk becoming increasingly polluted in the future, the study found.

Separate studies have also shown that plastic pollution must be reduced immediately.

The World Wildlife Fund commissioned the study out of Germany.

It says regular people can help cut down on plastic pollution by changing their behavior, but a the end of the day, governments need to share the burden of addressing the problem.