Nature

'A double-whammy problem': how plastic dust is altering natural processes

Carbon emissions from plastics production are no surprise. But when plastic turns to dust, it also affects how the planet absorbs carbon from the air, on land and in the oceans.

"There's good evidence that plastic slows down the sinking of marine snow, says environmental scientist Xia (Alice) Zhu at the Memorial University of Newfoundland in St John's, Canada, who has co-authored a systematic review on how the plastic cycle affects climate change ... 'We need more research into this before we write [plastic] off as insignificant'" - Dr. Alice (Xia) Zhu