Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Divergent shifts in public ecological attention following the COVID-19 pandemic

Researchers analyzed over a decade of social media data from South Korea to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped public attention to environmental issues including microplastics. The study found that the pandemic acted as a catalyst that restructured how people connect environmental topics, with public discourse around microplastics notably shifting toward more positive sentiment while climate crisis discussions became more negative.

2026 Journal of Ecology and Environment
Article Tier 2

Twitter data analysis to assess the interest of citizens on the impact of marine plastic pollution

Analysis of approximately 140,000 tweets about marine plastic pollution found that public engagement peaked in response to high-profile events like media reports and plastic ban announcements, with most activity from non-expert users sharing alarming content, while scientific accounts generated less engagement, suggesting that science communication strategies need rethinking.

2021 Marine Pollution Bulletin 57 citations
Article Tier 2

Campaigning Environmental Conservation During the Pandemic: A Social Media Reception Analysis

This study analyzed how environmental conservation campaigns shifted to social media during COVID-19 lockdowns to maintain public engagement. Social media campaigns about plastic pollution have become important tools for raising awareness of microplastic contamination and motivating policy change.

2021 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research/Advances in social science, education and humanities research 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Addressing chemical pollution in biodiversity research

This paper argues that chemical pollution, including microplastics, deserves far more attention in biodiversity research alongside climate change and habitat loss. Evidence shows that anthropogenic chemicals are a growing threat to ecosystems worldwide, yet pollution is often left out of biodiversity studies. The authors call for interdisciplinary collaboration between ecologists and environmental chemists to better understand and combat pollution-driven biodiversity decline.

2023 Global Change Biology 176 citations
Article Tier 2

Analysis of Popular Social Media Topics Regarding Plastic Pollution

Researchers applied five topic modelling techniques including LDA, HDP, LSI, NMF, and STM to 274,404 plastic pollution-related tweets to identify dominant public discourse themes on social media. The analysis revealed that certain techniques were more effective at capturing topic coherence and prevalence, providing policymakers with tools to understand public opinion and target environmental communication strategies.

2022 Sustainability 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Do Social Media Posts Influence Consumption Behavior towards Plastic Pollution?

Researchers surveyed 213 individuals to assess how social media posts influence consumer behavior toward plastic pollution, finding that information campaigns on social media can shift attitudes and reduce plastic consumption intentions.

2021 Sustainability 31 citations
Article Tier 2

Transboundary impacts of microplastics within planetary boundaries: Regulation and responses of soil-plant systems under climate change

This review examines how climate change and microplastic pollution interact to create compounding threats to soil and plant health. Higher temperatures speed up plastic breakdown into smaller, more dangerous particles, while heavy rain and wind spread them further through soil and groundwater. These processes can disrupt soil nutrients and plant growth, ultimately threatening the food supply and human health through contaminated crops.

2025 Environmental Research 5 citations
Article Tier 2

A multidisciplinary perspective on the role of plastic pollution in the triple planetary crisis.

This perspective paper argues that plastics are a central driver of all three dimensions of the planetary crisis — pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss — and must be addressed with the same urgency as carbon emissions. The authors call for a multidisciplinary approach that recognizes plastics as a systemic environmental threat rather than a siloed waste management issue.

2024 Environment international
Article Tier 2

Global perceptions of plastic pollution: The contours and limits of debate

This review analyzed 39 peer-reviewed studies on public perceptions of plastic pollution, finding that research discourse is narrowly focused on marine impacts and single-use plastics while largely ignoring broader plastic pollution contexts relevant to international treaty negotiations.

2023 Cambridge Prisms Plastics 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Topic modeling discovers trending topics in global research on the ecosystem impacts of microplastics

Researchers applied computational topic modeling to analyze how global microplastic research on ecosystem impacts has evolved across topics, regions, and time periods. The analysis identified trending research themes including terrestrial microplastics and biological interactions while revealing that marine-focused topics remain dominant, helping map the next frontiers for microplastic ecology research.

2024 Environmental Geochemistry and Health 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Peran Media Sosial Dalam Meningkatkan Kesadaran Lingkungan Di Kalangan Milenial

This literature-based study analyzed the role of social media in raising environmental awareness among millennials, including awareness of issues like plastic pollution and climate change. Researchers found that social media is effective at deepening understanding of environmental issues through influencer engagement, interactive content, and social campaigns. However, challenges such as misinformation, algorithmic bias, and superficial engagement limit its positive impact on promoting sustainable behaviors.

2025 Pubmedia Social Sciences and Humanities 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploring the Differences and InfluencingFactors of Public Participation in EnvironmentalProtection Behavior in the Private and PublicSpheres in China

Not relevant to microplastics — this sociological study analyzes factors influencing Chinese citizens' environmental protection behaviors in public and private spheres, using 2013 national survey data.

2023 Polish Journal of Environmental Studies 6 citations
Article Tier 2

An anthropocene-framed transdisciplinary dialog at the chemistry-energy nexus

Researchers analyzed key molecules at the chemistry-energy nexus, including carbon dioxide, hydrogen, methane, ammonia, and synthetic polymers, within the planetary boundary framework. The study suggests that the energy transition will require major shifts in how these molecules are produced and used, with implications for reducing plastic pollution and other environmental impacts tied to the chemical industry.

2024 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Networks of climate obstruction: Discourses of denial and delay in US fossil energy, plastic, and agrichemical industries

Researchers analyzed social media activity from major US fossil fuel, plastics, and agrichemical corporations to map how these industries coordinate messaging that delays climate and environmental action. The study found shared narratives across all three sectors that promote continued fossil fuel extraction, with implications for how policymakers understand and counter organized opposition to environmental regulation.

2025 PLOS Climate 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Societal Relations to Nature in Times of Crisis—Social Ecology’s Contributions to Interdisciplinary Sustainability Studies

This review article examined how social ecology — an interdisciplinary field — approaches the crisis of societal relationships with nature, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. It provides theoretical frameworks relevant to understanding why plastic pollution persists despite growing awareness of its harms.

2017 Sustainability 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Efektivitas Hukum Lingkungan Dalam Mengurangi Sampah Plastik Di Lautan Indonesia Pada Era Globalisasi

Researchers examined the effectiveness of environmental law in reducing plastic waste in Indonesian seas during the era of globalization, assessing whether legal frameworks and the spread of awareness through social media can meaningfully curb plastic pollution in marine ecosystems.

2023 Gorontalo Law Review 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic contamination in seawater across global marine protected areas boundaries

Researchers conducted a comprehensive assessment of microplastic contamination across global Marine Protected Areas, finding that these conservation zones are not immune to plastic pollution and highlighting the need for targeted mitigation strategies.

2022 Environmental Pollution 109 citations
Article Tier 2

Understanding of environmental pollution and its anthropogenic impacts on biological resources during the COVID-19 period

Researchers reviewed how the COVID-19 pandemic intensified plastic pollution across terrestrial, marine, and atmospheric environments by driving surges in single-use plastics and inadequately managed medical waste, with plastic-related contamination projected to pose escalating transboundary risks through 2030 and beyond.

2022 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental sustainability from the perspective of political economy

Not relevant to microplastics — this book chapter takes a political economy perspective on environmental sustainability, discussing climate change, biodiversity loss, and plastic pollution at a broad policy and philosophical level rather than conducting original microplastics research.

2023 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Evolution of Media Coverage on Climate Change and Environmental Awareness: An Analysis of Tweets from UK and US Newspapers

Researchers analyzed a decade of climate change tweets from six major UK and US newspapers, finding that coverage increased overall but dipped sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic before recovering by 2021, with 2019 standing out as a pivotal year driven by the Fridays for Future movement. Topic modeling revealed recurring themes around politics, health impacts, and pollution.

2023 Studies in classification, data analysis, and knowledge organization 2 citations