The cleanup of air pollution in East Asia has contributed to accelerated global warming by reducing aerosol particles that reflect sunlight, which has historically provided a cooling effect on the Earth's surface. Over the past 15 years, countries like China have significantly cut sulfur dioxide emissions, resulting in public health benefits. However, this reduction has also revealed the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on climate. Research indicates that improved air quality has likely been a driving factor in recent increases in global temperatures.
Many aerosol particles emitted from human activity reflect incoming sunlight and have a surface cooling effect. As their concentrations decrease in the atmosphere, our research shows that can play a leading role in recent warming.
Our main result is that the East Asian aerosol cleanup has likely driven much of the recent global warming acceleration and also warming trends in the Pacific.
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