Air pollution has decreased noticeably worldwide. This is good news for health – but not at all for climate change. About a paradoxical effect that is just becoming a problem.
This is one of the paradoxes of global warming. Burning coal or gasoline produces greenhouse gases that drive climate change. At the same time, however, pollutant particles are also released, which reflect sunlight and cool the planet, thereby offsetting some of the warming. Due to the spread of technologies, for example for cleaning exhaust gases, the amount of pollutants emitted has decreased over the past few years – and with it their cooling effect.