Microplastics Are Filling the Skies. Will They Affect the Climate? – Yale Environment 360

Micro Plastics in Arctic Snow (by Felton Davis CC BY 2.0 via Flickr).

Recent studies reveal that tiny pieces of plastic are constantly lofted into the atmosphere. These particles can travel thousands of miles and affect the formation of clouds, which means they have the potential to impact temperature, rainfall, and even climate change.

Plastic has become an obvious pollutant over recent decades, choking turtles and seabirds, clogging up our landfills and waterways. But in just the past few years, a less-obvious problem has emerged…