China’s pollution altering US weather, claim scientists
Computer modelling showed intensification of US-bound Pacific storms, driven by fine aerosols from coal power plants and traffic
China’s air pollution could be intensifying storms over the Pacific ocean and altering weather patterns in north America, according to scientists in the US.
A team from Texas, California and Washington State has found that pollution from Asia, much of which arising in China, is leading to more intense cyclones, increased precipitation and more warm air in the mid-Pacific moving towards the north pole.
According to the team’s findings, which were released earlier this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, these changes could ultimately contribute to erratic weather in the US.
The authors used advanced computer models to study interactions between clouds and fine, airborne particles known as aerosols, particularly manmade ones, such as those emitted from vehicles and coal-fired power plants.
“Our work provides, for the first time to the authors’ knowledge, a global multi-scale perspective of the climatic effects of pollution outflows from Asia,” says the study’s abstract.
One effect, the study says, is an “intensification of the Pacific storm track”, a narrow zone over the ocean where some storms which pass over the US begin to gather.