https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/14/chinas-air-pollution-clean-up-sped-up-global-warming/
Global efforts to cut aerosol emissions have increased the Earth’s temperatures
The speeding up of global warming has been largely driven by cuts to air pollution in China and wider East Asia, scientists believe.
Experts say that more sunlight is now reaching Earth because of fewer aerosols in the atmosphere since countries began tackling polluted air.
Scientists had expected about 0.23C of warming since 2010, but the rise has been around 0.33C.
Using new modelling, researchers at the University of Reading and the Cicero Centre for International Climate Research in Oslo, found that the majority of the difference – around 0.07C – could be accounted for by East Asian clean-ups.
Bjørn Samset, the lead author and senior researcher at Cicero, said: “Our main result is that the East Asian aerosol clean-up has likely driven much of the recent global warming acceleration
“Our overall number is around a tenth of a degree Celsius, 0.07C. This is small compared to the overall rate of global warming, driven by greenhouse gases, which has been at around 0.2 degrees celsiu
However researchers say the large effect of air pollution shows that it would be tricky to attempt to geo-engineer the climate to help control climate change.
In May, the Advanced Research and Invention Agency, the UK Government’s funding body, announced more than £50 million for 21 geo-engineering projects, including fi
More green irony: China causing global warming by reducing coal plant sulfur dioxide emissions that reflect sunlight.https://t.co/4u5qxikZRM pic.twitter.com/zwQA7em29i
— Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) July 14, 2025
