Global Dimming

It's now established that when particulate material (e.g. soot and carbon products), generated from vehicle exhausts, aircraft and industry, enters the atmosphere, then less light reaches the ground - this is known as 'Global Dimming'.

Since the 1950s sunlight reaching the Earth has significantly reduced. In Israel, where the first measurements were taken, sunlight intensity has reduced by some 22% and in the UK it has reduced by about 10%.

Why is this important? Global dimming causes a drop in temperature around the world that can upset established climates - altering season length and characteristics, and change the Earth's monsoon patterns. Scientists believe that global dimming was a key cause of the Ethiopian droughts back in the 1980s.

Does Global Dimming counteract Global warming? Global Dimming can, and actually has, slowed the effects of Global Warming. However, the Earth's population is now doing something about the amount of carbon particulates being released in to the atmosphere, by fitting catalytic converters to cars and reducing emissions from power stations etc. Many scientists now believe that the rate of global warming has been significantly underestimated because of global dimming, and global warming will accelerate giving us even less time than originally thought to take action.