EnvironmentThe rate at which the planet is warming has sped up since 2010, and now researchers say that China's efforts to clean up air pollution are inadvertently responsible for the majority of this extra warming 31 March 2025 A steel factory in Hebei, China, in 2015Kevin Frayer/Getty ImagesA recent surge in the rate of global warming has been largely driven by Chinas efforts to reduce air pollution, raising questions about how air quality regulations are influencing the climate and whether we fully understand the impact of removing aerosols from the atmosphere. This extra warming, which was being masked by the aerosols, accounts for 5 per cent of global temperature increase since 1850.In the early 2000s, China had extremely poor air quality as a result of rapid industrialisation, leading to a public outcry in the run-up