Researchers in Japan have recently confirmed the presence of microplastics in clouds, not long after tiny plastic particles were discovered in fish in the deepest parts of the ocean and scattered in Arctic ice.
According to the report, the research team said that each water sample collected from the fog on the top of Mount Fuji and Mount Oyama, west of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, could contain between six and 14 pieces of plastic. When these particles reach the atmosphere and are exposed to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight, they decompose, contributing to the production of greenhouse gases.
So far little is known about the impacts that microplastics can have, but they may include impacts on the climate.
Accordingly, microplastic particles can become some "seeds" that cause surrounding cloud droplets to condense into raindrops, thereby increasing cloud evaporation and total rainfall.
Researchers say microplastic particles in clouds that fall to the ground as rainwater can then enter the human body through agricultural products and livestock, negatively impacting human health.
Hiroshi Okochi of Waseda University, lead author of the study, warned that if the problem is not proactively addressed, the risk of climate change could become a reality with irreversible impacts, according to AFP.
Minh Hoa (reported by Thanh Nien, VNA)
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