Study shows clouds filled with microplastics may be affecting our weather, scientists alarmed

Microplastics are everywhere. Recent studies have shown not only are they in oceans but also the rain, snow, and even clouds, not to mention the food we eat, the water we drink and several parts of the human body. While not much is known about how microplastics affect the human body, we have some idea of how it is affecting the environment and it might be worse than once believed.

Earlier this year, a team of Japanese researchers who examined 44 samples of water collected from clouds found that the water had at least 70 particles of microplastics. But a new study published on Wednesday (Nov 15) suggests that it might be affecting our weather.

What is the new study about and how was it conducted?

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The study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters was conducted by a team of scientists who collected 28 samples of liquid from clouds at the top of Mount Tai in eastern China.

The team then used computer models to find out how the microplastics could have gotten there. They also tested how the particles could have impacted the clouds as well as been affected by them.

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Microplastics have been defined as tiny chunks of less than five millimetres long pieces of plastic and microfibres from clothes that get caught in the Earth’s atmosphere.

What did the scientists find?

The team of researchers led by Yan Wang of Shandong University found that low-altitude and denser clouds had more amount of microplastics.

The findings indicated that airflow from highly populated inland cities was the primary source of the microplastics in the samples that they collected.

The team of scientists also found that the particles were made of common polymers.

In addition to creating rain and snow, clouds play a vital role in regulating the amount of solar energy that reaches the Earth’s surface as well as the energy which is radiated back into space.

Therefore, any man-made changes affecting the clouds including substances like microplastics might be affecting our weather.

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The study by the team of scientists in China concluded that more work needs to be done in order to fully understand how microplastics affect clouds as well as their “potential impacts on atmospheric metal cycles and cloud formation.”

“Its likely that microplastics in clouds may affect the weather,” Christopher Reddy, an environmental chemist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who was not involved in the research told USA Today.

He also told the American media outlet that the study paves the way for other studies to understand how microplastics in clouds affect climate and weather.

“This is a good study, I’m very impressed with the quality of the work,” Reddy told USA Today. “It’s not good news, but it’s good science,” he added.

(With inputs from agencies)