Feature Image: Girl caught in Rain. Are microplastic particles in the water?
Easier said than done in a planet of ‘Plastic Rain’.
Even Plants and Vegetables are under attack by ‘Plastic Rain’.
“All of us Animals are vulnerable by the invasion of Plastic Rain”, said the Swan.
We Ancients lived free of the threat of ‘Plastic Rain’ invading the 21st Century.
Scaled down by ‘Plastic Rain’ by Halloween.
Artificial Intelligence what will ‘Plastic Rain’ do to them?
Plastic Rain Waste, the Danger we as a Society have created
Unlike many of my Website Posts, I am not making many comments about the below well-written brief treatise of serious global concerns about the frightening increase of ‘Plastic Rain’. I am simply passing forward this previous ‘Posted Link’ to make sure that this ‘Science Alert’ does not disappear from the Internet of Important History.
I encourage every ‘Caring Person’ to read this essential article and pass the information forward as part of the essential upgrade of our education about the dangers we must now deal with.
My Website has always been focused on Protection and Defence of ‘Freedom Values’ and opposition to all forms of ‘Authoritarianism’ and ‘Totalitarianism’ which includes ‘Abolition of all anti-freedom ideologies’. Solutions are only justly resolved in a ‘Free World’. ‘True Justice’ does not exist in ‘Fixed Dogma’ Societies and must therefore be challenged and overturned.
I consider the ‘Oppression of Plastic Pollution’ is now an enemy of ‘Freedom Values’ and is equally as dangerous as ‘Nuclear Winter’ caused by the insanity of collecting and manufacturing of ‘Nuclear Weapons’.
My focus to ‘Free the World’ includes ending the Violent Habit of War with Countries and on the streets of our Nations triggered by ‘Criminal Gangs’ and often ‘Violent Demonstrators’ void of honour and sense of decency focused on using Vandalism in all its forms, including Graffiti.
Most of these citizen oppressive troublemakers don’t care about doing the right thing by justice process. They are more concerned about their vanity for self-importance and often for reasons of greed. No-one can happily live a good peaceful life if they serve mammon.
It is reasonable to enjoy comfort and security provided such benefit is not acquired by oppression and denial of others’ rights to also work for comfort. There is a big difference between comfort achieved by honest ethical diligent work to wealth achieved by greed. Not all billionaires achieved their wealth by unscrupulous unethical means. Many fortunately, are caring altruistic people and do within the boundaries of reason and common-sense strive to help others.
A ’World of Peace, Love and Kindness’ void of the ‘Habit of War’ will be an amazing existence for every generation, but to achieve it, we ‘Homo Sapiens’ must ‘Change the Way We Think’ as encouraged by the wisdom of ‘Albert Einstein’, and millions of others in past history over the last one hundred thousand years and by me who now teaches the most advanced intelligence in the Universe called ‘Philosophical Intelligence’ which can smash the credibility of every fixed dogma belief system, be it Philosophical, Political or Religious or other erroneous ideas.
Now I encourage you to join the battle to save the world from ‘Plastic Pollution Waste’ using common-sense pragmatic solutions void of Panic and Overreaction.
People who Panic are dangerous to themselves and society.
Be the eye of calm in a storm. Read my Profiles that tell some of my survival stories when being calm in the face of danger saved my life, several times over the decades.
I encourage you to read the below ‘Plastic Rain’ story below or on the link…
The Battle for ‘Freedom’ shall continue…
Allan Ivarsson PhD P.I. 19th December 2022 (now near 74 years of age on Boxing Day 26th Dec.)
Founder, director, chairman of ‘things to come’ called ‘Cosmicism’. The way of ‘Blue Light Cosmic Philosophy’, the way of ‘Cosmic Libertarianism’ which uses the most advanced intelligence in the Universe called ‘Philosophical Intelligence’.
Ps. There are far too many people in life that think they have the right to dictate by force how other peaceful honourable decent people must live. Authoritarianism is not acceptable behaviour. Every person has the right to live free, in speech, choice and equality provided they do not abuse their ‘Freedom Privilege’ by denying others the same right to live free.
Story of essential concern by Carly Cassella dated 14th December 2022 titled ‘Plastic Rain Is a Now a Thing, And We’ve Underestimated Just How Heavy It Is.’ (i)
Beginning of brief story…
‘Plastic Rain Is a Now a Thing, And We’ve Underestimated Just How Heavy It Is.’
By Carly Cassella…
A plastic mist descends from the sky each day. You can’t see it. Or feel it. It has no smell or taste. But researchers think we are seriously underestimating the invisible downpour. (i)
New estimates by a team of scientists from the University of Auckland in New Zealand suggest an average of nearly 5000 microplastic particles settles on every square meter of Auckland’s urban rooftops on any given day.
That dusting adds up to around 74 metric tons of plastic each year, equivalent to about three million plastic bottles.
That gobsmacking amount is much, much more plastic than was recently calculated to be drifting down on London, Hamburg, or Paris. A study in 2020 estimated an average of just 771 microplastic particles falling onto the same-sized patch in London.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean London is six times less polluted by airborne plastics than Auckland. After all, it’s a much bigger city and located in a far less remote part of the world.
Instead, it’s more likely that previous air quality estimates, like those in London, were simply not measuring the smallest microplastics in circulation.
Today, there is no standard methodology or protocol for identifying microplastics, which means that every study is conducted in a slightly different way.
As our ability to measure the tiniest of microplastics continues to improve, experts are noticing far more offenders hiding in the air around us than ever before.
Initial research on the human lung suggests microplastics are even circulating in our respiratory system, albeit with unknown health effects.
“Future work needs to quantify exactly how much plastic we are breathing in,” says chemist Joel Rindelaub from the University of Auckland.
“It’s becoming more and more clear that this is an important route of exposure.”
The findings from New Zealand are based on a 9-week study of two sites in Auckland – one on the roof of a university building in the city and another on the fence in a city suburb. Airborne microplastics were caught using a funnel and jar contraption.
At each site, researchers counted the remnants of eight different types of airborne plastics. The most prolific were polyethylene (PE), used in grocery bags and squeeze bottles, polycarbonate (PC), used in protective gear and medical devices, and poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET), used in food and beverage packaging.
When winds from the coast were blowing particularly strong, microplastics caught in the city tended to increase in number. The results suggest that to a certain extent, the airborne plastics floating around Auckland are kicked up from the coastline’s wind and waves.
“The production of airborne microplastics from breaking waves could be a key part of the global transport of microplastics,” says Rindelaub.
“And it could help explain how some microplastics get into the atmosphere and are carried to remote places, like here in New Zealand.”
This could be another potential reason why airborne plastics seem to be lower in number in Germany and England. But even inland, drifting micropollutants are still very much a problem.
In 2019, a small pilot study in Europe found microplastics in the remote Pyrenees mountains, which were probably blown there from a few small towns nearby.
In 2021, scientists warned that airborne microplastics were now so ubiquitous in the atmosphere, they may already be having an effect on Earth’s climate. In the future, if concentrations continue to climb, the particles could exacerbate the greenhouse effect by absorbing and scattering light and heat. (i)
In the Auckland study, researchers found their urban site trapped a greater number of microplastics than their residential site in every week bar one.
The vast majority of particles captured during the experiment were between 10 and 50 micrometers in size. Most of them were plastic fragments, and only 3 percent were larger than 100 micrometers.
The findings are slightly different to what was previously found in London, where plastic fibers, not fragments, seemed to be the bigger source of pollution. The discrepancy could be due to updated sampling techniques or different types of pollution in various parts of the world.
A 2019 survey conducted in Hamburg, for instance, only measured for microplastics larger than 63 micrometers. The count of airborne particles from this city was also 18 times fewer than what was recently found in Auckland.
No one knows yet whether airborne microplastics have effects on human health, but the smaller the fragment or fiber, the more likely it is to cross over into our cells when we breathe it in.
If plastic pollution falling from the sky really does have toxic effects, it’s too insidious for scientists to tell just yet.
The study was published in Environmental Science & Technology.
End of Story.
A.I. revisits one paragraph quote… In 2021, scientists warned that airborne microplastics were now so ubiquitous in the atmosphere, they may already be having an effect on Earth’s climate. In the future, if concentrations continue to climb, the particles could exacerbate the greenhouse effect by absorbing and scattering light and heat. (i)
Allan Ivarsson comments… “A lot of ‘Climate Change’ Activism is doing the wrong thing in Panic Mode but this ‘Rain of Plastic Pollution’ is a serious concern, and we must work to trade out of this repetitious danger, which is ‘Plastic Pollution of Our Planet’.
To Be Continued in 2023…
Freedom from the Oppression of ‘Plastic Rain’ is now an essential survival objective.
Allan Ivarsson 23rd December 2022
