Ecosystems - Biology - Animals

Microplastics could trigger cloud formation and affect the weather, new study suggests

Sunset scenery at Mount Tai in Tai’an, east China’s Shandong Province on May 23, 2018. Jia Guangrui/SIPA/Zuma

CNN — Microplastics are turning up in unusual places increasingly often as they filter into nearly every facet of life on Earth. They’ve been discovered in drinking waterfood, air and even in blood. Now, scientists have found that these tiny particles might even be able to influence the weather.

Researchers reported Wednesday they detected microplastics in a majority of cloud samples taken from a mountaintop in China, in a study published in the American Chemical Society’s Environmental Science & Technology Letters.

The study traced how the microplastics ended up at their final location and discovered that they could play a role in cloud formation.

What are microplastics?

Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic that are no larger than five millimeters, which is about the size of a single sesame seed. And they are everywhere, according to Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics, a group working to end plastic pollution.

“Microplastics are in the air we breathe, they’re in our drinking water, they’re in our bodies,” Enck told CNN.

Microplastics form when larger plastics break down, either by chemically degrading or physically wearing down into smaller pieces.

“If it’s plastic, you’re going to get microplastics sooner or later,” Enck said.

The smaller a microplastic is, the easier it can move through environmental cycles – like the water cycle – and ultimately end up in the human body, where its effects are worrisome but still unclear.

Most experts believe more research is needed to determine the full impact of microplastics on human health, but studies have shown that there are already some demonstrable adverse health impacts.

How could microplastics affect the weather?

The authors of Wednesday’s study found microplastics affect cloud formation, and clouds are of huge importance to the weather we experience.

Clouds produce precipitation in the form of rain, snow and everything in between. They also block sunlight, and less solar radiation means […]

Full article: www.cnn.com

Recent Posts

Scathing report released detailing Navy’s handling of Red Hill fuel spill

The Inspector General of the Department of Defense released some scathing reports Thursday over the…

5 days ago

Growing Food Instead of Grass Lawns in California Front Yards

Photo: Morgan Boone, a volunteer with Crop Swap LA, harvested lettuce at the La Salle…

2 weeks ago

LA River restoration connects us back to ‘the life force of our city’

Los Angeles residents at a section of the Los Angeles River cleanup in Los Angeles,…

3 weeks ago

LAist: New study raises questions about heavy metals in fire retardants

Over the past decade, about 67 million gallons of fire retardant have been dropped on…

3 weeks ago

Meadow and watershed restoration in the Golden Trout Wilderness

Photo: Golden Trout Wilderness Seeking blue, seeing gold The Kern Plateau features a chain of…

3 weeks ago

First sighting of salmon in 100 years marks key milestone for California dam removal

For the first time in more than a century, a salmon was observed swimming through Klamath…

4 weeks ago