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Aviation is known to affect climate by changing cloudiness, but the magnitude of this effect remains uncertain. A modelling study indicates that changes in cloudiness associated with spreading of the line-shaped contrails that form behind aircraft may cause almost an order of magnitude more warming than the contrails alone.
Vehicle-emission standards for non-carbon-dioxide pollutants have recognized benefits for air quality. An interdisciplinary analysis now shows that adopting tight on-road emission standards for these pollutants would also mitigate short-term climate change and provide large benefits for human health and food security in a number of developing countries.
