Microplastics have finally found their way to the clouds, Japanese researchers have revealed in a damning research. Researchers believe this could have a grave impact on ocean ecosystem and climate change.
Headed by Waseda University professor Hiroshi Okochi and others, the research team examined 44 samples of water collected from clouds. Analysts found that the water had at least 70 particles of microplastics.
The water was collected from mountains at the summit and foot of Mount Fuji and the summit of Mount Tanzawa-Oyama, west of Yokohama in Kanagawa prefecture.
“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on airborne microplastics in cloud water,” the authors wrote in their research paper.
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Impact on climate change
Microplastics can cause severe damage to climate and the human body if their presence in clouds is not contained through coordinated efforts.
“If the issue of ‘plastic air pollution’ is not addressed proactively, climate change and ecological risks may become a reality, causing irreversible and serious environmental damage in the future,” lead author Hiroshi Okochi of Waseda University warned in a statement Wednesday.
He added that when exposed to sunlight and ultraviolet radiations at the height of a cloud, microplastics can contribute to greenhouse gasses.
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What are microplastics?
Microplastics are plastic particles measuring less than 5 millimetres in size. They originate from various sources, including industrial waste, textiles, synthetic car tires, personal care items, and more.
These minuscule particles have been found inside fish in the deepest parts of the ocean, scattered throughout Arctic sea ice, and covering the snow in the Pyrenees mountains that stretch between France and Spain.
However, the methods by which they are transported have remained poorly understood, especially when it comes to the airborne transport of microplastics, as research in this area has been limited.
NOTE – This article was originally published in wionews and can be viewed here
Tags: #climate, #climatechange, #climatecrisis, #climaterisk, #environment, #getgreengetgrowing, #globalwarming, #gngagritech, #greenstories, #microplastics, #nature, #plastic, #Pollution
