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China’s Smog Clouds May Prevent Global Warming

China’s Smog Clouds May Prevent Global Warming

http://sunshinehours.net/2016/03/24/chinas-smog-clouds-may-prevent-global-warming

I’ve posted articles in the past linking the clean air legislation in the west with more sunshine and therefore more warming. Here is a paper arguing the opposite: the lack of clean air in China is cooling the globe. China is responsible for just 10 per cent of man-made global warming, despite emitting more than one quarter of the world’s greenhouse gases, a new study claims. The study found sulphate and nitrate aerosols emitted by burning fossil fuels had a cooling effect that offset much of the warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and black carbon. As a result, while China’s consumption of fossil fuels and its carbon emissions had increased significantly over the past decades, a corresponding increase in aerosol emissions meant its contribution to man-made climate change had remained largely unchanged since the pre-industrial period. The findings suggest that China’s severe smog could have a “silver lining” in cooling the globe, and the study said that a campaign to clear the air could actually increase the country’s contribution to man-made warming. The study was led by Professor Li Bengang at Peking University and published in Nature. http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1929306/chinas-smog-clouds-have-silver-lining-they-may-help

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