India Eases Sulphur Emission Rules: Clean Air or Global Warming - Faustian Bargain?
Dr. Soumitra Das
India Eases Sulphur Emission Rules: Clean Air or Global Warming - Faustian Bargain?
South Asia is suffocating. In India alone, air pollution causes an estimated 1.5 million premature deaths every year, according to recent estimates. Cleaning the air is a public health imperative. But in doing so, are we intensifying another crisis—global warming?
Although India now faces severe heatwaves, its long-term warming has been slower than the global average. Since 1901, India’s average temperature has risen by only 0.7°C, roughly half the global increase. One possible reason is the region’s heavy air pollution, especially aerosols like sulfates, which reflect sunlight and have partially masked warming—a phenomenon some researchers describe as a "global warming hole".
But that shield may be vanishing. As the International Maritime Organization (IMO) enforces low-sulfur fuels on international shipping, a step that will reduce reflective “ship tracks,” but also improve air quality in coastal regions, scientists are already observing faster global warming. A 2023 study by James Hansen et al. estimates the IMO rule may have contributed to over 25% of the recent increase in the rate of Earth’s absorption of solar energy
While India has relaxed enforcement of scrubber requirements at coal plants, future pollution controls could lead to similar warming effects. A 2023 NIH paper warns that aerosol removal could raise temperatures in South Asia.
Clean air is essential—but India and its neighbors must prepare to manage the unintended consequences, including more rapid warming. With 1.8 billion people and deep reliance on the monsoon, the region risks crop failures, water shortages, and mass displacement if caught unprepared.
The solution lies in integrated action: cleaning air and cooling at the same time using reflective surfaces and marine cloud brightening that can counteract the warming unleashed by cleaner skies. This isn’t a choice between breathing and burning. We need both!