Impact of Chinese power stations on air quality explained

The impact that Chinese power stations have on the world's air quality has been explained by environmental experts.

Many people may have expected the predominantly coal-based plants to contribute to global warming, but studies have suggested that they are actually having the opposite effect.

Robert Kaufmann of Boston University told the Independent that the high levels of sulphur pollutants have helped to cool the Earth down, whereas carbon dioxide tends to warm up the atmosphere.

Research has shown that surface temperatures across the globe have levelled off in the past decade due mainly to China doubling the amount of coal it has burnt between 1998 and 2007.

However, Simon Lewis of the University of Leeds told the publication the cooling effect provided by sulphur emissions would only be a "short-term" phenomenon.

Last month, a BP study highlighted a sizeable increase in worldwide CO2 emissions in 2010, as the use of fossil fuels grew sharply.

Posted by Joseph Hutton