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There's more bad news about microplastics. We already know they pose a risk to health and can pollute ecosystems, but now researchers have discovered that tiny plastic particles drifting in Earth's atmosphere could be a significant contributor to global warming.

According to a paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change , airborne microplastics trap nearly one-fifth as much heat as black carbon, also known as soot.

Microplastics are everywhere

Microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) generally come from the slow decomposition of large plastic products and synthetic fibers and range in size from billionths of a meter (nanoplastics) to up to a few millimeters (microplastics) in diameter.…