Repository
A sampling of the nearly 6,400 peer-reviewed papers reviewed for the Project's Frontiers in Environmental Science paper, and additional reports cited in "Plastics: Exposing Their Climate Impacts." Publications are grouped into the three major categories of plastics' impacts on climate.
Climate Impact #1: Emissions of greenhouse gases and black carbon from the plastics lifecycle
The following documents help identify and quantify the emissions of greenhouse gases (including methane and ethylene) and black carbon across the lifecycle of plastics, from fossil fuel extraction to end-of-useful-life treatment or degradation in the environment:
- C-THRU (2022). "Carbon clarity in the petrochemical supply chain."
- Center for International Environmental Law (2019). "The hidden costs of a plastic planet." (Also available in PLOS ONE.)
- Coalition for Materials Emissions Transparency (COMET) (2022). "Making plastics emissions transparent."
- Ford, Jambeck et al. (2022). "The fundamental links between climate change and marine plastic pollution."
- GRID-Arendal (2024). "Climate impacts of plastics: Global actions to stem climate change and end plastic pollution."
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2024). "Climate Impact of Primary Plastic Production" by Karali, N., Khanna, N., & Shah, N.
- Royer et al. (2018). "Production of methane and ethylene from plastic in the environment."
- Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty (2023). "Policy Brief: Climate change impacts of plastics" by Nihan Karali, Ellen Palm, Juan Baztan, Patricia Villarubia Gomes, Nina Khanna, et al.
- Reyna-Bensusan et al. (2019). "Experimental measurements of black carbon emission factors to estimate the global impact of uncontrolled burning of waste."
- Beyond Plastics (2021). "The New Coal: Plastics & Climate Change."
Climate Impact #2: The impact of plastics on carbon cycling including sequestration
These documents help identify and quantify the climate-relevant impacts of plastics on carbon cycling, including on carbon fluxes, sources, and sinks:
- Galgani and Loiselle (2020). "Plastic pollution impacts on marine carbon biogeochemistry."
- Shen et al. (2023). "Recent advances in the research on effects of micro/nanoplastics on carbon conversion and carbon cycle: a review."
- Stubbins et al. (2021). "Plastics in the Earth system."
- Zhao et al. (2023). "Effects of plastic contamination on carbon fluxes in a subtropical coastal wetland of East China."
- Zhu, X. (2021). "The plastic cycle — an unknown branch of the carbon cycle."
- Sharma et al. (2023). "Contribution of plastic and microplastic to global climate change and their conjoining impacts on the environment."
- Shen et al. (2020). "Can microplastics pose a threat to ocean carbon sequestration?"
- Maity and Pramanick (2020). "Perspectives and challenges of micro/nanoplastics-induced toxicity with special reference to phytotoxicity."
Climate Impact #3: The impact of plastics on the Earth's radiation budget
These resources investigate the changes in Earth surface albedo, direct aerosol effects, and/or indirect aerosol effects due to environmental plastics:
- Revell et al. (2021). "Direct radiative forcing of airborne microplastics."
- Leahy (2019). "Microplastics are raining down from the sky." National Geographic.
- Xu et al. (2023). "Characterization of Microplastics in Clouds over Eastern China."
- Brahney et al. (2020). "Plastic rain in protected areas of the United States."