Global Dimming
(no, really...)

Global dimming may be the yin to global warming's yang.

The theory is that the amount of sunlight, or solar energy, falling on the earth has been dropping steadily over the past 50 years or so.

That could mean, scientists believe, that global dimming is actually mitigating the effects of global warming.

Oooooooo K.

The answer is fascinating. Global dimming seems to be caused by air pollution. As pollutants from vehicles, factories, power plants and the like make their way into the atmosphere, they carry with them tiny particles such as ash and soot compounds.

Those particles reflect sunlight away from the earth, and the greater the presence of these particles, the greater the effect on the amount of solar radiation that reaches the surface.

Meanwhile, the world's industrial nations seem to finally be reining in particle pollution. Ironically, that could be the catalyst that speeds up global warming.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060727/global_dimming_060727/20060729?hub=TopStories

And blah blah blah. Methinks the reduced particle pollution is accompanied by reduced CO2 emissions, so it should "all come out in the wash" as we say in Greentown, and the loony environmentalists need to come out with something else for the weak-minded to worry about.