Microplastics weaken the ocean's biological carbon pump by reducing phytoplankton photosynthesis and impairing zooplankton metabolism, and emit greenhouse gases as they degrade, making plastic pollution a direct contributor to ocean warming and acidification rather than only an ecological problem.
A 2026 review in Journal of Hazardous Materials: Plastics, led by the University of Sharjah with collaborators in China, Hong Kong and Pakistan, synthesised 89 studies on how marine microplastics intersect with the climate system. It examines their effect on phytoplankton and zooplankton, the microbial plastisphere, and greenhouse gases released as plastic degrades at sea.
