this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2023
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The presence of tiny plastics in clouds risks the contamination of ‘everything we eat and drink’, researchers say.

Microplastics have been discovered in clouds, where scientists say they could be contributing to climate change.

Researchers found several types of polymers and rubber in the water in cloud water surrounding Mount Fuji, Japan’s biggest mountain, and Mount Ōyama.

Their study, published in the journal Environmental Chemical Letters, joins a growing body of evidence showing that plastic pollution has infiltrated most ecosystems on Earth.

Fragments of plastic smaller than 5mm (around the size of a sesame seed) have been found in the furthest reaches of the planet and most intimate parts of the human body, including the blood, lungs, and placentas of pregnant women.

"To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to detect airborne microplastics in cloud water in both the free troposphere and atmospheric boundary layer,” the scientists wrote.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (11 children)

Condensation nuclei are tiny particles upon which water vapour condenses in the atmosphere, meaning they’re essential for the formation of clouds.

"Overall, our findings suggest that high-altitude microplastics could influence cloud formation and, in turn, might modify the climate," the scientists wrote.

How might it modify the climate? I thought cloud seeding was a proposed geoengineering technique to mitigate climate change?

[–] bluekieran 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Marine cloud seeding/brightening, aims to make clouds more reflective, to reflect sunlight back away from Earth. Not sure microplastics from tyre rubber are likely to have that effect.

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