China’s coal burning may have slowed global warming

Washington Post : Massive coal burning in China may have slowed global warming over the past 10 years, according to a study by Robert Kaufmann of Boston University and colleagues, which was published yesterday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Burning coal releases carbon dioxide, which traps heat from the Sun and raises temperatures. But it also emits particles of sulfur that deflect the Sun’s rays, which can have a cooling effect. Unfortunately, the cooling is only temporary, whereas the carbon dioxide from coal burning stays in Earth’s atmosphere for a long time. As China works to reduce its pollution, and hence the amount of sulfur it emits, temperatures could begin to climb again. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA have listed 2010 as tied for the warmest year on record, and the Hadley Center of the British Meteorological Office lists it as second warmest, after 1998.