Reducing air pollution has INCREASed global warming, research reveals
The big paradox: Reducing air pollution has INCREASED global warming because clean air does not contain aerosol particles that reflect sunlight and cool the Earth
- Pollution levels today are 30 percent lower than in 2000
- However, this has led to increased warming from carbon emissions
- Scientists find there is less fog in the atmosphere to block out solar radiation
- They suggest using solar engineering to launch aerosol particles into the atmosphere in an effort to combat climate change
Scientists have discovered a great paradox in nature – clean air increases global warming, while pollution keeps our planet cool.
An international team of researchers determined current pollution levels are 30 percent lower than in 2000, but warming from carbon dioxide emissions has increased by up to 50 percent.
Polluting particles, such as sulfates or nitrates, are known for their reflective properties and are commonly found in exhaust.
The team, in a desperate move, suggested switching to aerosols once again, but using a controversial type of geoengineering to do so.
This method, called solar engineering, requires the launch of sulfate particles into the stratosphere which in turn creates a reflective haze across the globe, reports Science.org.
The study, led by the University of Leipzig, brings good news for human health – these particles are linked to millions of deaths each year – but bleak for the future of mankind.
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While pollution has fallen by 20% since 2000, warming from carbon emissions has increased
The team found that ocean heat has been on the rise since 2000, which they again say is because the world is adopting policies that reduce aerosol use.
Johannes Quaas, a climate scientist at the University of Leipzig and lead author of the study, told Science.org that the study was conducted using instruments on NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites, both of which collect data on Earth’s atmosphere.
The device also gathers intelligence about radiation entering and leaving Earth, enabling research to understand the increase in infrared heat trapped by greenhouse gases.
And other instruments on the satellite show a decrease in the reflective light coming from Earth.
Scientists used NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites (pictured) to study the atmosphere and found that fog was reduced because the air was cleaner. Less fog means more incoming radiation
Venkatachalam Ramaswamy, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, told Science.org that there is only one explanation for this – cleaner air. Dynamics Laboratory. “It is very difficult to find alternative reasons for this,” he said.
All of this data allowed the team to analyze fog in the atmosphere, which led them to determine haze in North America, Europe and East Asia that cleared dramatically from 2000 to 2019.
The results sparked the idea of putting pollution particles back into the atmosphere, which in turn would reflect solar radiation back into space and ultimately limit or reverse human-caused climate change.
The team, in desperation, suggest switching to aerosols once again, but using controversial geoengineering to do so. This method has been proposed by the Stratosphere Controlled Perturbation Experiment, which was funded by Microsoft founder Bill Gates
This method has been proposed by the Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment, which was funded by Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
This $3 million initial test will use a high-altitude scientific balloon to lift about four pounds of calcium carbonate dust — the size of a bag of flour — into the atmosphere 12 miles above the New Mexico desert.
This will result in a tubular area of sky half a mile long and 100 yards in diameter.
Over the next 24 hours, the balloon will be propelled back through this artificial cloud, its onboard sensors monitoring the dust’s ability to reflect sunlight and its effect on the thin air around it.
SCoPEx, however, was put on hold, amid fears that it could trigger a series of destructive chain reactions, create climate chaos in the form of serious droughts and hurricanes, and bring death to millions around the world.
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