Pollution From Asia Affects US Climate

sciencehabit writes "China and India are some of the world's top polluters, with countless cars, factories, and households belching more than 2 million metric tons of carbon soot and other dark pollutants into the air every year. The pall hanging over the region has come to be known as 'the Asian brown cloud.' These pollutants aren't just bad news for the countries themselves. A new study reveals that they can affect climate thousands of kilometers away, warming the United States by up to 0.4C by 2024, while cooling other regions (abstract)."

I laught at the western countries when I look

[Nudeboy]

I'm European, but living long-time in Asia. I can't but laugh at USA and EU worrying about little things and having mundane pollution and trashing laws when I look around myself. Everything is packed in plastic (often multiple times), cars and mopeds fart tons of black gas and factories just dump their waste where they want.

Interestingly, while everyone trashes, places do tend to stay really clean, as people make money by collecting all the trash from streets and bringing it to recycling.

Passing the blame

[galadran]

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/env_pol_car_dio_per_cap-pollution-carbon-dioxide-per-capita [nationmaster.com]

Per person, the USA is the worst country in the world for air pollution, whereas China and India are among the best. Even if you ignore population and compare absolutely, the USA produces 5x the pollution of India and roughly equivalent to the pollution of China.

If there is a smog cloud over North America, I would be looking much closer to home to find the source...

Re:I laught at the western countries when I look

[gsgriffin]

You're obviously not in India. Just got back from there myself. Never saw the sun directly in the five Weeks I was there and covered half the country. I can believe that a billion people cooking over wood burning fires everyday makes a difference. I've seen it.

Re:America never generate any pollution?

[Anonymous Coward]

What sanctions are you referring to? The US hasn't sanctioned India over its oil purchases from Iran. Even though India is inadvertently supporting a regional rival. The U.S.- India Civil Nuclear Agreement was a huge win for India since they can continue nuclear trade even though they have never signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The last sanctions I found any reference to were in 1998 as a result of India's nuclear tests that year.
I ask again, what sanctions are you referring to?