US EditionChina’s success in cleaning up air pollution may have accelerated global warming: Study
EAST ASIA, JUL 14 – A 75% cut in East Asian sulphur dioxide emissions since 2013 has reduced cooling aerosols, contributing to recent global warming acceleration, researchers say.
- A study published on 14 July in Communications Earth and Environment found that East Asia's air pollution cleanup has accelerated global warming.
- This acceleration occurred after a substantial 75% decline in sulfur dioxide pollutants in East Asia beginning in approximately 2013, driven largely by Chinese regulations aimed at curbing aerosol pollution.
- The cleanup caused clouds to darken and reflect less sunlight, reducing cooling from aerosols and revealing more greenhouse gas warming since 2001.
- Peter Cox noted that the majority of the global temperature rise since 2001 can be attributed to decreases in SO2 emissions instead of increases in CO2 levels, while Laura Wilcox highlighted that this recent rise in warming is expected to be temporary.
- The findings suggest that while global warming will continue for decades, faster recent warming partly reflects a temporary effect from reducing air pollution in East Asia.
8 Articles
8 Articles
China’s success in cleaning up air pollution may have accelerated global warming: Study
Efforts to clean up air pollution in China and across East Asia may have inadvertently contributed to a spike in global warming, a new study has found. The decline in aerosol emissions — which can cool the planet by absorbing sunlight — have added about 0.05 degrees Celsius in warming per decade since 2010, according…
East Asian aerosol cleanup has likely contributed to the recent acceleration in global warming
Global surface warming has accelerated since around 2010, relative to the preceding half century1–3. This has coincided with East Asian efforts to reduce air pollution through restricted atmospheric aerosol and precursor emissions4,5. A direct link between the two has, however, not yet been established. Here we show, using a large set of simulations from eight Earth System Models, how a time-evolving 75% reduction in East Asian sulfate emissions…
Cleaner air in east Asia may have driven recent acceleration in global warming, our new study indicates
A traffic jam in Beijing in China, where air pollution has drastically reduced. Hung Chung Chih/ShutterstockGlobal warming has picked up pace since around 2010, leading to the recent string of record warm years. Why this is happening is still unclear, and among the biggest questions in climate science today. Our new study reveals that reductions in air pollution – particularly in China and east Asia – are a key reason for this faster warming. Cl…
NewScientist
Anti-Aging, Acupuncture and Health NewsMost warming this century may be due to air pollution cuts
Satellite data suggests cloud darkening is responsible for much of the warming since 2001, and the good news is that it is a temporary effect due to a drop in sulphate pollution
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