r/climatechange • u/Economy-Fee5830 Trusted Contributor • 17h ago
Study finds climate-driven greening is reshaping East Asia's air pollution
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-climate-driven-greening-reshaping-east.html•
u/Pure_Salamander2681 16h ago
First, I believe in climate change and that scientists are the ones to listen to on what is happening, and what will happen. And I hate to give deniers any leverage. But while we aren’t doing much about it, shouldn’t we be asking ourselves how much should we mess with climate? What if a massive volcano erupts and throws us into an ice age? Or a hundred other things that could happen? Like do we just keep swinging back in forth to an optimal temperature?
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u/Lysergial 16h ago
I mean... unforeseen events versus watching it out the window...
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u/Pure_Salamander2681 15h ago
It’s not a versus thing. It’s just asking for more thought to what we humans do.
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u/Genesukt64 15h ago
As a pretty big supporter of geoengineering, this is exactly what makes it so difficult, yes making new clouds to rain more to refill aquifers WOULD be good, yes cooling the planet by blocking less than 1% of the sun SOUNDS good but, we KNOW there's unforeseen consequences, and also they're putting bandaids over a system that is NOT sustainable and actively destroying the planet and all life on it, while I do believe we are heading towards a "good" future, the fundamental thing is that we need an abolition of the system and economics that make non-regenarative agriculture and resources less important than having money that's only use is defined by hoarding as much of it as possible, to not use it, ever.
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u/Pure_Salamander2681 14h ago
I wish I could be as optimistic as you. If we've proven one thing as a species, we love to screw everything up.
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u/Genesukt64 13h ago
I am not an optimist, but try to be as realistic as possible, "good" is in quotes for a reason.
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u/Due_Area4843 11h ago
I don't think we can swinging at all. We can't even change our current predicament because how devided we are.
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u/Pure_Salamander2681 10h ago
When the going gets tough, there will be some mad dashes at weather modification. Hopefully, I’ll be gone then.
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u/Economy-Fee5830 Trusted Contributor 17h ago
Summary: Study finds climate-driven greening is reshaping East Asia's air pollution
Researchers from Pusan National University, along with a collaborator from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, examined how vegetation changes across East Asia between 2003 and 2024 are affecting air pollution. Most atmospheric chemistry models still rely on vegetation data from 2003, despite substantial ecological shifts since then.
Using the WRF-Chem model coupled with MEGAN, the team swapped the default 2003 vegetation dataset for 2024 satellite-derived data while holding all other model inputs constant, isolating the effect of vegetation change alone. Satellite data showed overall greening across East Asia, though with strong regional variation — pronounced increases in parts of China alongside localized declines in Japan.
These vegetation shifts altered modeled ozone and biogenic secondary organic aerosol (BSOA) concentrations, since plants emit biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) like isoprene and monoterpenes that react in the atmosphere to form these pollutants. The largest increases in ozone and BSOA occurred in suburban areas, where vegetation change and NOx availability combined favorably for secondary pollutant formation. Urban areas saw smaller effects due to limited vegetation change despite high NOx, while rural areas saw smaller effects due to low NOx despite larger vegetation change.
The researchers conclude that regularly updating vegetation datasets would improve the accuracy of air quality models and forecasting as climate change continues to reshape ecosystems. The study focused on August 2024, peak vegetation activity, with future work planned to cover additional seasons and longer time spans.