Robust evidence for reversal of the trend in aerosol effective climate forcing
21 September 2022
Pollution particles cool climate and offset part of the global warming. However, they are washed out by rain and thus their effect responds quickly to changes in emissions. The authors show multiple datasets to demonstrate that aerosol emissions and their concentrations declined in many regions influenced by human emissions, as did the effects on clouds. Consequently, the cooling impact on the Earth energy budget became smaller. This change in trend implies a relative warming.
The press release by the University of Leipzig can be found at: https://www.uni-leipzig.de/en/newsdetail/artikel/international-study-improved-air-quality-accelerates-global-warming-in-recent-decades
Contact: Johannes Quaas (johannes.quaas@uni-leipzig.de)
