Chinese air pollution dimmed sunlight enough to impact solar panels
arstechnica.com
arstechnica.com
> Global dimming also creates a cooling effect that may have partially counteracted the effect of greenhouse gases on global warming.
Edit, was reading through it - I find it'd be interesting to note that in some cases the dimming effect actually amplifies warming:
>Brown clouds have been found to amplify global warming according to Veerabhadran Ramanathan, an atmospheric chemist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, CA. "The conventional thinking is that brown clouds have masked as much as 50 percent of global warming by greenhouse gases through so-called global dimming... While this is true globally, this study reveals that over southern and eastern Asia, the soot particles in the brown clouds are in fact amplifying the atmospheric warming trend caused by greenhouse gases by as much as 50 percent."
It did in the Matrix. oh wait...
Emissions neglect exports also. So despite exporting most of the worlds shiny new things, China is doing pretty damn well. Which country do you represent and do you think it "bodes" well for our collective future given it's comparative environmental damage?
Still, pointing the finger on China because of pollution is shortsighted. People in developed nations produce much more overall emissions. Especially if you look at averages.
We just currently don't really have experience or solutions for developing countries without a certain amount of pollution. And if they reach a fully developed level, it is pretty certain, that their overall emissions are significantly higher.