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Top-level
 We may not have firm evidence of the consequences of environmental microplastics, but we do have ample evidence of the catastrophic effects of atmospheric particulates. They trigger famines, little ice ages, and the end of civilizations. Not one great empire survived unscathed from the volcanic activities of 536 AD. Roman. Chinese. Ganges. Sassanid https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_winter_of_536 https://eos.org/articles/how-modern-emissions-compare-to-ancient-extinction-level-events 3 comments
 ... committed ourselves to.” What really gives me headaches: "The murk of anthropogenic aerosols in the sky has, overall, had a dramatic cooling effect since the Industrial Revolution (without them, *global warming would be 30 to 50 per cent greater than it is today*). And they have more sway on extreme weather than greenhouse gases do: a world warmed by removing aerosols would have more floods and droughts, for example, than a world warmed the same... "...amount by CO2." So, in fact, without the offsetting effect of aerosols, we could already be competing with #Dune to be the new habitat for #sandworms. If airborne microplastics were to solve our #GlobalWarming problems in the same way, this would just be an irony of fate, undeservedly so, I must say. ;) Source: https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2023/03/14/Microplastics-Sky-Climate-Change/ |
Gregory's Server
@Npars01 @petergleick
I completely agree with your summary.
However, not being an environmental scientist and they stating that at this point cannot determine the direction in which this is going, I don't dare to contradict:
"But whether they would warm, or cool, the Earth is unknown...
These plastics are incredibly long lived. They’re breaking down, and they’re going to be forming new microplastics for centuries. We just don’t know how big the problem is that we’ve...