Microplastics: Why our Forests are Struggling to Breathe-from the World Land Trust

Earlier this year, a new study was featured in Scientific American magazine which revealed that microplastics, the tiny fragments of plastic that now permeate the air, soil, and water across the globe, and even our bodies, can reduce plant photosynthesis by up to twelve percent. Photosynthesis is the process through which all green plants, from rainforests to windowsill herbs, turn sunlight into sugar as food for themselves. It is this process that absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releases oxygen. The implications of this process being hindered are stark.

Forest ecosystems are paramount in storing carbon, regulating local and the global climate, and sustaining biodiversity. Now however, we learn that microplastic pollution is undermining this vital service. Our forests are already at severe risk from having their trees felled for farming, timber, urban structures, and more, but now we find that the ones left standing may be losing their ability to draw down carbon dioxide. This means if forests are rendered less effective by microplastics, our climate strategies may need to be accelerated even more.

www-worldlandtrust-org.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.worldlandtrust.org/news/2025/08/microplastics-are-smothering-our-forests/amp/

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