Tiny Plastics in the Sky May Be Warming the Planet

A Nature Climate Change study finds colored micro- and nanoplastics suspended in the atmosphere have a net warming effect. While the global impact remains small, the warming can exceed that of black carbon in regions with high plastic concentrations, such as the North Pacific Gyre, by up to about fivefold. The researchers used high-resolution spectroscopy and atmospheric transport simulations to refine estimates of direct radiative forcing, but they emphasize the need for more world-wide measurements to accurately map airborne microplastics.