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Published online 5 May 2005 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news050502-8

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Clear skies end global dimming

Earth's air is cleaner, but this may worsen the greenhouse effect.

Our planet's air has cleared up in the past decade or two, allowing more sunshine to reach the ground, say two studies in Science this week.

Reductions in industrial emissions in many countries, along with the use of particulate filters for car exhausts and smoke stacks, seem to have reduced the amount of dirt in the atmosphere and made the sky more transparent.

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