Unveiling the heat: The paradox of pollution control
A big drop in air pollution across East Asia—especially China—has actually sped up global warming.
By cutting out sulfate aerosols (tiny particles from burning fossil fuels that used to bounce sunlight away), we've lost a bit of Earth's "sunshade," and temperatures have risen more quickly since 2010.
Global warming has accelerated since 2010
China's huge effort to cut sulfur dioxide emissions (down 75% since the early 2010s) has significantly benefited public health.
But with fewer aerosols in the air, greenhouse gasses are heating things up faster—about 0.05°C per decade, according to new climate models.
Need to move quicker on cutting greenhouse gas emissions
Cleaning up air pollution is great for people, but it means we need to move even quicker on cutting greenhouse gas emissions if we want any shot at hitting climate goals like those in the Paris Agreement.