IT SEEMS obvious: cutting pollution should make our air cleaner. In fact, it’s not quite that simple. While particulates from diesel engines, industry and burning biomass make the atmosphere dirtier, it turns out that they also help prevent the dangerous build-up of ozone in the air we breathe.
Common pollutants such as methane and carbon monoxide are cleansed from the atmosphere by highly reactive ions such as hydroxyl, which is manufactured by reactions that are driven by ultraviolet light. Because particulates, also known as aerosols, absorb hydroxyl ions onto their surfaces, they leave fewer free for cleaning duties so levels…
