1,2,3,4,6,7,4,5,8,1,3- 1Research Center for Industries of the Future, Westlake University, Hangzhou, China
- 2College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- 3Key Laboratory of Coastal Environment and Resources of Zhejiang Province, School of Engineering, Westlake University, Hangzhou, China
- 4Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
- 5School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
- 6Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Canada
- 7Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig, Germany
- 8School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- 9Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
Nano-/micro-plastics (NMPs) are ubiquitous anthropogenic pollutants in the atmosphere. However, their impact on cloud microphysical properties and climate dynamics remains poorly understood. Here, we show that several types of NMPs can effectively trigger heterogeneous ice nucleation under mixed-phase cloud conditions. At −20 °C, the number of nucleation sites per unit mass of NMPs varied by more than one order of magnitude and is higher than that of marine organic aerosol, but lower than that of K-feldspar. Combining the developed ice nucleation parameterization with the global concentrations of NMPs, we found that the NMPs are an important source of ice-nucleating particles (INPs) globally, particularly in urban areas with high population density and extensive road networks, as well as in cities with concentrated textile industries, where tire wear particles and polyester exhibit relatively high ice-nucleation efficiency. By serving as INPs, NMPs can modulate the cloud microphysical properties and substantially affect longwave and shortwave cloud forcing. With the expected increase of NMP emissions in the future, we believe that NMPs may play a crucial role in influencing cloud microphysical properties and the broader climate system.
How to cite: Chen, S., Chen, J., McErlich, C., Chan, A., Wex, H., Kanji, Z., Revell, L., Zhang, Y., Zhao, X., and Gong, X.: Nano-/micro-plastics could be an important source of ice-nucleating particles, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-3800, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-3800, 2026.
