One of the most pressing mysteries in climate science is why Earth has begun warming faster over the past 15 years. A new international study points to a surprising contributor: cleaner air in East Asia, particularly China.
The study, published in Communications Earth & Environment, found that East Asia’s aerosol reductions contributed about 0.05 degrees Celsius per decade to global temperatures since 2010. This accounts for most of the acceleration in warming observed during this period. The trend persists even after accounting for natural fluctuation events like El Niño.