Microplastics are absorbing heat in the atmosphere and contributing to global warming , a new study reveals.

Microplastics are infamous for being everywhere , contaminating ecosystems and accumulating inside our bodies . Scientists have known for a while that plastics are also blown high into the atmosphere, where they are now pervasive, but it was unclear what impact they might be having up there.

Study co-author Drew Shindell , a distinguished professor of Earth science at Duke University, told Live Science that the climate change impact of plastic particles is fairly small ‪—‬ comparable to the emissions of a small country. In numbers, this is the equivalent of around a couple of percent of the contribution from carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) — the main driver of climate change — or a couple hundredths of a degree of warming.…