I think my friend, MD, sent me this one intending it to be a CounterCurrents category piece – but I don’t think it is. The global weather system is a complicated animal and there are many give-and-takes within its systems.
In this case, the solar dimming resulting from global atmospheric pollution may be sheilding us from more rapid global warming.
So, when we do begin to move away from oil-based economies and generating massive atmospheric pollution, that should be good, right?
Yes, until the clearer air begins to let the blocked sunshine in which will further antagonize an atmosphere already overloaded with CO2 – and then up goes the thermometer.
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New evidence that air pollution has masked the full impact of global warming suggests the world may soon face a heightened climate crises.
In the early 21st century, it’s become clear that air pollution can significantly reduce the amount of sunlight reaching Earth, lower temperatures, and mask the warming effects of greenhouse gases. Climate researcher James Hansen estimates that “global dimming” is cooling our planet by more than a degree Celsius (1.8°F) and fears that as we cut back on the pollution that contributes to dimming, global warming may escalate to a point of no return. Regrettably, in terms of possibly taking corrective action, our current understanding of global dimming has been a long time in the coming, considering the first hints of the phenomenon date back to 18th-century observations of volcanic eruptions. In this slide show, follow a series of historic events and scientific milestones that built the case for global dimming.
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