Climate: De-fogged | Nature

_Nature Geosci._ 10.1038/ngeo414 (2009) During the past 30 years, the skies of Europe have become clearer. Robert Vautard of the Laboratory for Climatic and Environmental Science (LSCE) in

Gif-sur-Yvette, France, and his colleagues studied records of visibility at weather stations across the continent. They found that low-visibility conditions such as fog, mist and haze have

declined by as much as 50% over the period. The pattern of improvement is correlated with local declines in sulphur dioxide emissions, suggesting a role for pollution control. This

brightening of the skies, the researchers say, could have contributed to Europe's reported daytime warming during that time by 10–20%, with a particularly marked effect in eastern

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Published: 21 January 2009 * Issue Date: 22 January 2009 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/457361c SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this

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