Are those nasty smoke stacks causing more good than harm?

It sounds crazy right? How can pollution better cities and societies? Well it seems as though we may be faced with a double-edged sword… It turns out the pollutants coming from smoke stacks are much more complex than we think, and maybe helping the global warming process to cool down just a touch.

A climate researcher named Natalie Mahowald, from Cornell University, states in Science Magazine, that the pollutants that come from smoke stacks create many different compounds of nitrogen and sulfur in the air. Some of these pollutants called aerosols, do a great job of cooling down our earth while hanging out in the sky by reflecting sunlight back into space. Not only this but they can create nutrients for plants on land and in the sea. Because of this, a great amount of carbon dioxide is being reduced by the emissions of the pollutants.

While this may sound like positive news, it really just makes the situation more sticky, because while these pollutants are cooling down the sky, they are also causing mostly lung and heart diseases among vulnerable people such as children or the elderly. This news isn't new, and yet scientists are pushing to find answers as to how to keep the air cool, and our earth’s population safe. 

you can find more information at npr.org