{"id":385616,"date":"2025-06-28T19:12:45","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T17:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=385616"},"modified":"2025-06-28T19:12:46","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T17:12:46","slug":"cleaner-air-sunshine-temperatures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=385616","title":{"rendered":"Cleaner Air, Sunshine &\u00a0Temperatures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Paul Homewood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Spring this year was by far the sunniest on record in the UK. Given that last year was one of the least sunny, we need to accept that natural variability plays the major role in all of this,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

but question marks remain about the longer-term trends, which are clearly increasing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which brings us to the question of aerosols and air pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is absolutely no question that aerosols reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the surface or that they act as cloud condensation nuclei. This is what the Met Office say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, human activities are also responsible for increasing the atmospheric concentrations of microscopic particles, such as sulphate from industrial sulphur dioxide emissions; smoke from burning of agricultural waste, and pollution particles from traffic emissions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These atmospheric particles scatter and absorb sunlight and terrestrial radiation and also act as cloud condensation nuclei and modify the microphysical and optical properties of clouds.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The net effect of the impacts on radiation and cloud properties is to induce a net cooling of the climate system which acts to oppose the warming due to increases in greenhouse gases.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.metoffice.gov.uk\/research\/climate\/earth-system-science\/aerosols<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And NASA established that reduced air pollution during the pandemic caused measurable warming in some areas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The COVID-19 pandemic showed what can happen if the humans reduce their aerosol pollution. Fossil-fueled air travel, driving, electricity use, and industrial activity all decreased sharply in the spring of 2020. This led to cleaner, clearer air, which <\/em>caused a slight warming<\/em><\/a> \u2014 up to 0.2 to 0.5\u00b0 F (0.1 to 0.3\u00b0 C) \u2014 in some places.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aerosols: Small Particles with Big Climate Effects – NASA Science<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how much of that extra sunlight we have been experiencing in the UK since the 1970s is the result of cleaner air?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Met Office produced the graph below, which shows just how remarkable the decline in pollution has been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
https:\/\/www.metoffice.gov.uk\/blog\/2024\/how-is-uk-air-quality-landscape-changing<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While cities like Birmingham were obviously badly affected by dirty air in the past, this pollution was inevitably spread more widely across the country by winds. And in the last few years we have had reduced sulphur emissions from shipping to add to the mix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the Met Office\u2019s State of the UK Climate Report last year admitted that cleaner air was a factor in increased sunshine:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
https:\/\/www.metoffice.gov.uk\/research\/climate\/maps-and-data\/about\/state-of-climate<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A 2006 study by the Met Office found a strong correlation between sunshine and temperatures in spring, summer and autumn:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20240317075352\/https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20151001000000*\/https:\/\/www.metoffice.gov.uk\/media\/pdf\/q\/h\/uk_climate_trends.pdf<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Which all begs the question \u2013 what impact has cleaner air had on the rise in UK temperatures since the 1960s?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And why is the Met Office so reticent to mention it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spring this year was by far the sunniest on record in the UK. Given that last year was one of the least sunny, we need to accept that natural variability plays the major role in all of this,<\/p>\n

but question marks remain about the longer-term trends, which are clearly increasing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":385629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691824309,691822337,691836117,691829903,691832464],"class_list":{"0":"post-385616","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-aerosols","9":"tag-air-pollution","10":"tag-cleaner-air","11":"tag-uk-climate-report","12":"tag-uk-temperatures","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/OIG2.A7DFotAo17I.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1CjC","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":420275,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=420275","url_meta":{"origin":385616,"position":0},"title":"A Warm, Pleasant, Sunny\u00a0Year","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/01\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2025, the UK experienced what many described as a warm, pleasant, sunny year \u2014 one of the warmest and sunniest on record, according to the Met Office.","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-dioxide-co%e2%82%82"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0-sunny-sommer.jpg?fit=1200%2C765&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0-sunny-sommer.jpg?fit=1200%2C765&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0-sunny-sommer.jpg?fit=1200%2C765&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0-sunny-sommer.jpg?fit=1200%2C765&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0-sunny-sommer.jpg?fit=1200%2C765&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":381954,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=381954","url_meta":{"origin":385616,"position":1},"title":"Sunniest Spring On\u00a0Record","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/06\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Met Office would like you to believe that when we now get the same weather as 132 years ago, it is due to global warming!","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image-132.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image-132.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image-132.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image-132.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":270834,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=270834","url_meta":{"origin":385616,"position":2},"title":"Whatever the Weather","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/08\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"In\u00a0Could Do Better\u00a0I made reference to the series of reports on the state of the UK climate, eight to that point in time, but now nine, following the recent publication of the report for 2022. A study of the reports reveals, over a period of nine years, UK weather varying\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0climate_change_header.jpg?fit=1200%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0climate_change_header.jpg?fit=1200%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0climate_change_header.jpg?fit=1200%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0climate_change_header.jpg?fit=1200%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0climate_change_header.jpg?fit=1200%2C768&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":267828,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=267828","url_meta":{"origin":385616,"position":3},"title":"Could Do Better","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"17\/07\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"However, the main thing to take away (albeit, of course, this is a report on only a single year\u2019s weather) is that the catastrophic narrative with regard to the UK\u2019s climate seems to be greatly exaggerated.","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0GettyImages-1529221508-1.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0GettyImages-1529221508-1.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0GettyImages-1529221508-1.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0GettyImages-1529221508-1.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0GettyImages-1529221508-1.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":241202,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=241202","url_meta":{"origin":385616,"position":4},"title":"Coldest December for 50 years in Iceland","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"23\/01\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Last December was the coldest December in the country since 1973, or for almost half a century ago, with an average temperature in the country -4.0 degrees Celsius or 24.8 degrees Fahrenheit.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-1025.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-1025.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-1025.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-1025.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-1025.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":265043,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=265043","url_meta":{"origin":385616,"position":5},"title":"Catastrophising Summer Weather","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/07\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Met Office\u2019s press release is all of course part of a very well organised conspiracy to catastrophise summer weather. The Met Office are at the forefront, with the media in full support. 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