Research reveals the global effect of Asian air pollution

A study claims that air pollution in Asia affects weather patterns much further afield.

The continent sees some of the highest levels of air pollution in the world, with severe health impacts for its inhabitants.

The new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has found evidence that air pollutants from China and other Asian countries are also affecting weather systems across the globe.

The researchers, based in the US and China, used computer models to investigate the phenomenon.

They found that pollutants from Asia were being blown towards the north Pacific, where they came into contact with water droplets in the air and caused clouds to grow thicker.

This made storms above the Pacific Ocean more intense and, as this region feeds into several of the world’s weather systems, the effects are often spread across the Northern Hemisphere.

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