{"id":428001,"date":"2026-05-06T09:46:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T09:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/428001\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T09:46:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T09:46:16","slug":"airborne-microplastics-could-be-making-climate-change-worse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/428001\/","title":{"rendered":"Airborne microplastics could be making climate change worse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Microplastic particles flowing through<\/a> Earth\u2019s atmosphere may be quietly driving up global temperatures, a new study suggests.<\/p>\n

Microplastics and nanoplastics\u2014tiny bits of broken-down plastic pollution\u2014litter the planet\u2019s rivers, oceans, land and air. But until now, researchers weren\u2019t sure<\/a> what effect all those plastic particles were having on an already warming climate.<\/p>\n

A new study<\/a> led by researchers at Fudan University in China suggests that the particles may significantly affect warming\u2014for comparison, microplastics\u2019 warming effect equates to about 16 percent of that of black carbon, or soot.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis article shows a very worrying truth about the dangers of micro- and nanoplastics,\u201d says Steve Allen, a microplastics researcher<\/a> at the environmental advocacy organization Healthy Earth, who was not involved with the study.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever walked barefoot on asphalt, you know black material absorbs heat. White paint on asphalt, however, reflects it. The same thing happens with airborne microplastics\u2014darker colors warm the atmosphere, while lighter colors help cool it. By analyzing the optical properties of various microplastics in the lab and simulating their effect on a global scale, the new study\u2019s authors estimated that microplastics\u2019 warming abilities outweigh their potential cooling effects\u2014something current climate models don\u2019t account for.<\/p>\n

The results were published on Monday in Nature Climate Change.<\/p>\n

The findings reveal \u201ca long-overlooked link\u201d between plastics and climate change<\/a>, said study co-author Hongbo Fu, a researcher at Fudan University in China, at a press conference. Plastics are not just an environmental pollutant<\/a>. \u201cThey can also act as a heating agent in the atmosphere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still have a lot to learn about exactly how many of these [microplastics] are in the atmosphere and how they\u2019re distributed, both horizontally and vertically,\u201d said Drew Shindell, the study\u2019s senior author and a professor of Earth science at Duke University, at the same press conference. \u201cThis is not the final word.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear how many microplastics are actually in the atmosphere. But the study team argues global climate assessments, such as those published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), need to factor in these particles. \u201cOur work suggest that climate models need to be updated,\u201d Fu said. \u201cIPCC should take notice.\u201d<\/p>\n

More broadly, Allen says the results underscore the need to reduce our reliance on plastics\u2014which are often made from the by-products of fossil fuel production<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat needs to be looked at is the carbon emissions throughout the life cycle of plastic production adding to the total climate change effect,\u201d he says. The \u201ctakeaway message\u201d is \u201cthat we can reduce climate change by removing plastic from our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

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