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Microplastics are in the Earth’s atmosphere and could be having an impact on weather and climate, according to Penn State University (PSU) scientists.
In research published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology: Air, the team showed how microplastics can “act as ice nucleating particles” or microscopic aerosols that facilitate the formation of ice crystals in clouds.
According to PSU’s Miriam Freeman, the effects could include changing precipitation patterns,, in turn making weather forecasting, climate modeling and aviation safety less certain
“Throughout the past two decades of research into microplastics, scientists have been finding that they’re everywhere, so this is another piece of that puzzle,” Freedman said.
The tiny bits of plastic have been found in human bodies and in the food chain in the wild – sometimes breaking down into even smaller nanoplastics, which have been shown to pass through the blood-brain barrier or from mother to unborn child.
“It’s now clear that we need to have a better understanding of how they’re interacting with our climate system, because we’ve been able to show that the process of cloud formation can be triggered by microplastics, “ Freeman warned.
Another study from PSU, to be published in the December run of Science of the Total Environment, found that microplastics have been building up in rivers since the 1950’s.
A Stockholm University team recently published research in which they warned that while the world produces 500 million tonnes of plastic each year, only 9% of it gets recycled.
