Microplastics detected in clouds may impact weather: Study
Los Angeles, US: microplastics">Microplastics are rapidly being found everywhere, from the depths of the seas to the snow on mountains and even the air above cities.
Researchers have published their findings in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters. They speculate that these tiny particles may have a role in cloud formation and, as a result, weather.
microplastics">Microplastics, which are plastic bits smaller than five millimetres in size, come from a variety of everyday objects such as clothes, packaging, and car tyres. Scientists are not only detecting microplastics in the atmosphere but also exploring how they may play a role in cloud formation as research in the topic advances.
microplastics">Microplastics are rapidly being found everywhere, from the depths of the seas to the snow on mountains and even the air above cities. Researchers have now published their findings in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters. They speculate that these tiny particles may have a role in cloud formation and, as a result, weather.
microplastics">Microplastics, which are plastic bits smaller than five millimetres in size, come from a variety of everyday objects such as clothes, packaging, and car tyres. Scientists are not only detecting microplastics in the atmosphere but also exploring how they may play a role in cloud formation as research in the topic advances.
Polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, and polyamide were used to make the particles. The microplastics were mostly less than 100 micrometres long, but some were as long as 1,500 micrometres. The researchers believe that older, rougher particles had more lead, mercury, and oxygen attached to their surfaces, which could aid cloud formation.
Wang and his colleagues created computer models that mimicked how the plastic particles in the clouds travelled to Mount Tai in order to determine where they came from.
These models suggested that airflow from highly populated inland areas, rather than from over the ocean or other nearby mountains, served as the major source of the fragments. In laboratory experiments, the researchers demonstrated that microplastics exposed to cloud-like conditions -- ultraviolet light and filtered cloud-sourced water -- had smaller sizes and rougher surfaces than those exposed to pure water or air.
Additionally, particles impacted by the cloud-like conditions had more lead, mercury and oxygen-containing groups. These results suggest that clouds modify microplastics in ways that could enable the particles to affect cloud formation and the fate of airborne metals. The researchers conclude that more work is needed to fully understand how microplastics affect clouds and the weather.
