Does cleaner air cause global warming????

Well, there's something new about climate every day...

The clearing of the air has contributed to the continent's rapid rate of climate change because it increases the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface, say scientists.

More than 4,000 lives were claimed in the capitals 1952 Great Smog while 750 Londoners died in a similar outbreak ten years later.

But an analysis of "horizontal visibility" data from 342 meteorological stations all over Europe found the frequency of fog, mist and haze has declined by about 50% over the past three decades.

Climate scientist Dr Robert Vautard, of the Atomic Energy Commission in Paris, said: "Because the occurrence of fog, haze or mist reduces the solar radiation that reaches the Earth's surface, the clearer air may have caused a rise in temperatures."

Using statistical analysis Dr Vautard and colleagues, whose findings are published online in Nature Geoscience, estimate the fall in "low-visibility phenomena" could have contributed between 10 and 20% of the European warming trend.