Latest news with #eastAsia
ABC News
7 days ago
- Science
- ABC News
Cleaner air in east Asia may have driven recent acceleration in global warming
Global warming has picked up pace since around 2010, leading to the recent string of record warm years. Why this is happening is still unclear, and among the biggest questions in climate science today. Our new study reveals that reductions in air pollution, particularly in China and east Asia, are a key reason for this faster warming. The clean-up of sulphur emissions from global shipping has been implicated in past research. But that clean-up only began in 2020, so it's considered too weak to explain the full extent of this acceleration. NASA researchers have suggested that changes in clouds could play a role, either through reductions in cloud cover in the tropics or over the north Pacific. One factor that has not been well quantified, however, is the effect of monumental efforts by countries in east Asia, notably China, to combat air pollution and improve public health through strict air quality policies. There has already been a 75 per cent reduction in east Asian sulphur dioxide emissions since around 2013, and that clean-up effort picked up pace just as global warming began accelerating. Our study addresses the link between east Asian air quality improvements and global temperature, building on the efforts of eight teams of climate modellers across the world. We have found that polluted air may have been masking the full effects of global warming. Cleaner air could now be revealing more of the human-induced global warming from greenhouse gases. In addition to causing millions of premature deaths, air pollution shields the Earth from sunlight and therefore cools the surface. There has been so much air pollution that it has held human-induced warming in check by up to 0.5°C over the last century. With the clean-up of air pollution, something that's vital for human health, this artificial sunshade is removed. Since greenhouse gas emissions have kept on increasing, the result is that the Earth's surface is warming faster than ever before. Thick smog influences the effect of greenhouse gases. ( Reuters ) Modelling the clean-up Our team used 160 computer simulations from eight global climate models. This enabled us to better quantify the effects that east Asian air pollution has on global temperature and rainfall patterns. We simulated a clean-up of pollution similar to what has happened in the real world since 2010. We found an extra global warming of around 0.07°C. While this is a small number compared with the full global warming of around 1.3°C since 1850, it is still enough to explain the recent acceleration in global warming when we take away year-to-year swings in temperature from natural cycles such as El Niño, a climate phenomenon in the Pacific that affects weather patterns globally. Based on long-term trends, we would have expected around 0.23°C of warming since 2010. However, we actually measured around 0.33°C. While the additional 0.1°C can largely be explained by the east Asian air pollution clean-up, other factors include the change in shipping emissions and the recent accelerated increase in methane concentrations in the atmosphere. Air pollution causes cooling by reflecting sunlight or by changing the properties of clouds so they reflect more sunlight. The clean-up in east Asian air pollution influences global temperatures because it reduces the shading effect of the pollution over east Asia itself. It also means less pollution is blown across the north Pacific, causing clouds in the east Pacific to reflect less sunlight. The pattern of these changes across the North Pacific simulated in our models matches that seen in satellite observations. Our models and temperature observations also show relatively strong warming over the North Pacific, downwind from east Asia. The main source of global warming is still greenhouse gas emissions, and a clean-up of air pollution was both necessary and overdue. This did not cause the additional warming but rather, removed an artificial cooling that has for a time helped shield us from some of the extreme weather and other well-established consequences of climate change. Global warming will continue for decades. Indeed, our past and future emissions of greenhouse gases will affect the climate for centuries. However, air pollution is quickly removed from the atmosphere, and the recent acceleration in global warming from this particular unmasking may therefore be short-lived. Laura Wilcox, Professor, National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Reading and Bjørn H. Samset, Senior Researcher in Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, Center for International Climate and Environment Research - Oslo. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.
Daily Mail
15-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Food safety chiefs issue warning on tomatoes as salad favourite is linked to deadly infection that left more than a dozen hospitalised
Health officials have sounded the alarm over a surge in potentially deadly salmonella linked to tomatoes. More than 100 people were sickened, with at least 14 hospitalised by two strains of the diarrhoea-causing bug in 2024. The cases, also believed to have been caused by the fruit, were not confined to a specific area of the UK, instead reported across the country, according to UK health and safety watchdogs. Testing revealed all cases the infection were caused by the rare strains Salmonella Blockley, also referred to as S. Blockley, and Salmonella Strathcona, which the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warned is particularly severe. Cases of S. Blockley are more often seen in east Asia and the US, and have only been recorded in European countries a handful of times. It comes as separate UKHSA data released this week found salmonella cases have surged in the first three months of 2025, up on 2023 and 2024. Salmonella is a group of bacteria that infects the gut of farm animals—and typically affects meat, eggs and poultry. The nasty bug usually also causes sickness and a fever that clears up in days. However, it can be fatal. On average, it takes from 12 to 72 hours for the symptoms to develop after swallowing an infectious dose of salmonella. Those most at risk at suffering severe illness from a salmonella infection include those with weakened immune systems such as children and the elderly. If people become seriously ill, they may need hospital care because the dehydration caused by the illness can be life-threatening. According to the 2024 UKHSA data, there were 81 cases of S. Blockley confirmed by lab testing, all linked to tomatoes. Of these, at least 14 were hospitalised. Tomatoes were also blamed for a Salmonella Strathcona outbreak that affected 24 people. But it is not known where the tomatoes were grown, be it from the UK or if they were imported from another country. Research has suggested the texture of tomatoes can make them more prone to the bacteria and the risk increases as they are often eaten raw and not cooked, which would usually kill off any bugs. Contaminated water supplies used as the tomatoes grow can spread salmonella. It can also persist in the soil and contaminate them as they grow. A separate salmonella outbreak with 109 cases was linked to red meat. UKHSA figures released last month showed salmonella cases hit a record decade high in 2024, soaring by almost a fifth in a single year to over 10,000 cases. Children under 10 years old were particularly affected, accounting for 21.5 per cent of cases. Dr James Cooper, deputy director of food policy at the FSA, said: 'We are working together to understand the reasons behind the rise in salmonella cases, as well as trends in other pathogens. 'This analysis will help us take the necessary action to protect public health. 'We're also working with industry and local authorities to support businesses to meet their legal responsibility to make sure food is safe.' But separate data this week showed cases in the first quarter of 2025 were even higher than 2024. Some 1,588 cases were logged between January and March 2025, up on the 1,541 reported over the same period in 2024. By comparison, there were 1,328 reports between January and March 2023.
The Independent
14-07-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Why cleaner air is actually accelerating global warming
Global warming has picked up pace since around 2010, leading to the recent string of record warm years. Why this is happening is still unclear, and among the biggest questions in climate science today. Our new study reveals that reductions in air pollution – particularly in China and east Asia – are a key reason for this faster warming. Cleanup of sulphur emissions from global shipping has been implicated in past research. But that cleanup only began in 2020, so it's considered too weak to explain the full extent of this acceleration. Nasa researchers have suggested that changes in clouds could play a role, either through reductions in cloud cover in the tropics or over the North Pacific. One factor that has not been well quantified, however, is the effect of monumental efforts by countries in east Asia, notably China, to combat air pollution and improve public health through strict air quality policies. There has already been a 75% reduction in east Asian sulphur dioxide emissions since around 2013, and that cleanup effort picked up pace just as global warming began accelerating. Our study addresses the link between east Asian air quality improvements and global temperature, building on the efforts of eight teams of climate modellers across the world. We have found that polluted air may have been masking the full effects of global warming. Cleaner air could now be revealing more of the human-induced global warming from greenhouse gases. In addition to causing millions of premature deaths, air pollution shields the Earth from sunlight and therefore cools the surface. There has been so much air pollution that it has held human-induced warming in check by up to 0.5°C over the last century. With the cleanup of air pollution, something that's vital for human health, this artificial sunshade is removed. Since greenhouse gas emissions have kept on increasing, the result is that the Earth's surface is warming faster than ever before. Modelling the cleanup Our team used 160 computer simulations from eight global climate models. This enabled us to better quantify the effects that east Asian air pollution has on global temperature and rainfall patterns. We simulated a cleanup of pollution similar to what has happened in the real world since 2010. We found an extra global warming of around 0.07°C. While this is a small number compared with the full global warming of around 1.3°C since 1850, it is still enough to explain the recent acceleration in global warming when we take away year-to-year swings in temperature from natural cycles such as El Niño, a climate phenomenon in the Pacific that affects weather patterns globally. Based on long-term trends, we would have expected around 0.23°C of warming since 2010. However, we actually measured around 0.33°C. While the additional 0.1°C can largely be explained by the east Asian air pollution cleanup, other factors include the change in shipping emissions and the recent accelerated increase in methane concentrations in the atmosphere. Air pollution causes cooling by reflecting sunlight or by changing the properties of clouds so they reflect more sunlight. The cleanup in east Asian air pollution influences global temperatures because it reduces the shading effect of the pollution over east Asia itself. It also means less pollution is blown across the north Pacific, causing clouds in the east Pacific to reflect less sunlight. The pattern of these changes across the North Pacific simulated in our models matches that seen in satellite observations. Our models and temperature observations also show relatively strong warming over the North Pacific, downwind from east Asia. The main source of global warming is still greenhouse gas emissions, and a cleanup of air pollution was both necessary and overdue. This did not cause the additional warming but rather, removed an artificial cooling that has for a time helped shield us from some of the extreme weather and other well-established consequences of climate change. Global warming will continue for decades. Indeed, our past and future emissions of greenhouse gases will affect the climate for centuries. However, air pollution is quickly removed from the atmosphere, and the recent acceleration in global warming from this particular unmasking may therefore be short-lived. Laura Wilcox is a Professor at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Reading
