Key Points
The bad news is whats been causing that cooling:emissions of fine particles of sulfur and nitrogen compounds and carbon, known as aerosols..
Like spray aerosols, theseare fine particles suspended in the air but hardly any come from aerosol cans.Most are produced by the same processes of burning carbon-richfuel that causegreenhouse-gasemissions.The particlesfloat in the atmosphere, affect the formation of clouds,and reflect solar radiation back into space..
That progress on the health front, however, means the cooling effect that aerosolshave provided since the dawn of the industrial era is disappearing a setback in climate terms..
The Covid-19 lockdowns in early 2020 may have caused temperatures to increase as much as 0.3 degrees Celsius in parts of the northern hemisphere, with warming from attenuatedaerosol emissions overwhelming cooling from the reduction in greenhouse gases..
Reducing aerosols should remaina priority, says Mahowald, because for the next few decades they will still be killing more people than climate change, with particularly damaging impacts on poorer and non-White groups who are more exposed to such emissions..
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