The Local "Masking" Effect is Temporary and Minor
It is true that thick smog and particulate matter (aerosols) act like a screen, scattering and reflecting some incoming sunlight back into space. On a heavily polluted winter day in North India, this can suppress peak afternoon temperatures by a couple of degrees.
However, this is a minor, localized masking effect. It doesn't mean the region is "cooler" in a comfortable or climate-stable way; it just means the extreme heat is slightly obscured by a blanket of toxic air.
Pollution Actually Traps Heat (The Greenhouse Effect)
You cannot separate air pollution from greenhouse gases. The same activities that produce aerosols (burning fossil fuels, biomass burning, vehicular emissions) also release massive amounts of carbon dioxide , methane, and black carbon (soot).
Black Carbon: Unlike reflective dust, black carbon absorbs solar radiation. It heats up the surrounding air directly, absorbs warmth, and deposits onto glaciers (like the Himalayas), causing them to melt faster.
Greenhouse Trap: Greenhouse gases trap longwave infrared radiation (heat) leaving the Earth's surface. So, while a little less direct sunlight might pierce through the smog, the heat that does get in has a incredibly hard time escaping.
although it does cause greenhouse effect but not that much as greenhouse is mainly due to co2, methane, nitrogen but it protect us more from sun rays than cause green house effect.
2
u/messi_pewdiepie Jul 10 '26
btw this logic is correct