Microplastics floating through our clouds could soon start changing the Earth's rainfall and weather patterns
Nov 16, 2023, 15:47 IST
The world is becoming more cognisant of what we add and remove from our atmosphere. And after centuries of industrial sky-clogging, it’s about time, too. However, changing habits can do little to reverse the poison we’ve already unleashed onto the planet, which continues to evolve and affect the environment in newer ways everyday. Touted as the miracle material of the past, plastics remain a deafening example of one such toxin, and new research has shown that its new forms have begun to inadvertently affect weather as well.
And once again, we’re talking about microplastics, of course. These tiny fragments of plastic are increasingly being found in unexpected places, from the unfathomable depths of the ocean to the snow on mountains. And it’s annoyingly difficult not to produce them, since they originate mainly from the regular wear and tear of many essential daily-use items such as clothing and packaging.
We’ve known of their sinister potential to float around the atmosphere and affect weather, but to what extent still remains a mystery. To answer this pertinent question, researchers collected 28 samples of liquid from clouds at the top of Mount Tai in eastern China.
They found that the clouds contained low levels of water-attracting microplastics, with lower-altitude and denser clouds containing the most. The particles were made of common polymers, including polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, and polyamide. Y’know, the stuff that makes up your PET bottles, clothing, food containers, disposable utensils, and so on.
The reason these findings are so significant is because these minuscule plastic pieces have the potential to accumulate water, effectively creating clouds. Fascinatingly, the cloud-like conditions also roughened up the microplastics over time, allowing them to become more adept at accumulating metals like lead, mercury and oxygen.
In addition to changing the movement of airborne metals, the presence of these extra, often-toxic elements could help the atmospheric microplastics gather water and congregate clouds more easily. Models estimated that most of these teeny pieces travelled to the mountaintops from highly populated inland areas, rather than over from nearby mountains or the ocean.
The presence of microplastics in clouds is a cause for concern, as it suggests that these tiny particles may have a more widespread impact on the environment than previously thought. Further research is needed to determine the full extent of this impact, but it is clear that microplastic pollution is a serious problem that needs to be addressed.
The findings of this research have been published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters and can be accessed here.
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And once again, we’re talking about microplastics, of course. These tiny fragments of plastic are increasingly being found in unexpected places, from the unfathomable depths of the ocean to the snow on mountains. And it’s annoyingly difficult not to produce them, since they originate mainly from the regular wear and tear of many essential daily-use items such as clothing and packaging.
We’ve known of their sinister potential to float around the atmosphere and affect weather, but to what extent still remains a mystery. To answer this pertinent question, researchers collected 28 samples of liquid from clouds at the top of Mount Tai in eastern China.
They found that the clouds contained low levels of water-attracting microplastics, with lower-altitude and denser clouds containing the most. The particles were made of common polymers, including polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, and polyamide. Y’know, the stuff that makes up your PET bottles, clothing, food containers, disposable utensils, and so on.
The reason these findings are so significant is because these minuscule plastic pieces have the potential to accumulate water, effectively creating clouds. Fascinatingly, the cloud-like conditions also roughened up the microplastics over time, allowing them to become more adept at accumulating metals like lead, mercury and oxygen.
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The presence of microplastics in clouds is a cause for concern, as it suggests that these tiny particles may have a more widespread impact on the environment than previously thought. Further research is needed to determine the full extent of this impact, but it is clear that microplastic pollution is a serious problem that needs to be addressed.
The findings of this research have been published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters and can be accessed here.