The Conversation is an independent source of news analysis and informed comment written by academic experts, working with professional journalists who help share their knowledge with the world. iMIRACLI ESR Peter wrote a recent article on air pollution and climate:
Air pollutants kill around seven million people every year. Much of this pollution is tiny particles suspended in the air which, when inhaled, can cause people to develop heart and lung diseases, as well as cancer.
Small particles in the atmosphere also birth clouds, whether they are crystals of sea salt from the Southern Ocean or sulphate from industrial chimneys. Collectively, these particles are called aerosols.
Moisture in the atmosphere can only condense into cloud droplets with aerosols. The aerosols that fossil fuel burning adds to the atmosphere make these droplets more numerous and clouds more reflective of sunlight, and potentially longer-lasting. All of this increases the amount of sunlight that clouds scatter back to space instead of being absorbed by the Earth. This is partly why the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that human-made aerosols cool the climate and mask some of the warming from greenhouse gases.
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