Scientists have developed new models that show plastic waste is accumulating differently in oceans than previously believed. A new study illustrates that far more plastic pollution than previously thought remains near the coast or ends up on beaches.
Credit: Katarina Werneburg
They studied the extent to which cirrus clouds caused by aircraft occurred during the global hard lockdown between March and May 2020, and compared the values with those during the same period in previous years. The study was led by Johannes Quaas, Professor of Theoretical Meteorology at Leipzig University, and has now been published in the renowned journal
Environmental Research Letters .
Cirrus clouds, known for their high, wispy strands, contribute to warming the climate. When cirrus clouds occur naturally, large ice crystals form at an altitude of about 36 kilometres, in turn reflecting sunlight back into space - albeit to a small extent. However, they also prevent radiated heat from escaping the atmosphere, and thus have a net heating effect. This is the dominant effect in cirrus clouds.
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A study conducted at the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Bern provides new insights into the pollution of the world s oceans with plastic waste. The modelling shows that most of the plastic does not end up in the open ocean, but beaches or drifts in the water near the coast.