Researchers at the UK’s University of Reading have found that cutting air pollution will not enhance global warming, as was feared. The study, published in the Nature journal, provides evidence that reducing pollution and greenhouse gases can be a win-win, and that the former doesn’t have to happen at the cost of the latter.

Traditional wisdom says that pollutant particles hanging in the air attract moisture, forming thicker clouds that reflect sunlight back into space. Thus, air pollution has a cooling effect, and slows down the effects of global warming. Any move to cut pollution, therefore, was associated with the risk of a rise in global temperatures.

However, the study states that this is not true. The researchers checked satellite data from clouds near sources of pollution: oil refineries, smelters, coal-fired power plants, cities, wildfires and ships. They found that clouds react differently to pollution: while some get thicker, others get thinner. The study says that the aerosol-induced increase in cloud water is partially cancelled by enhanced evaporation of the same cloud water.

This decrease in cloud water offsets 23% of the climate-cooling effect of aerosol-induced increases in the concentration of cloud droplets. Therefore, the study states, increases in cloud water do not result in substantial climate cooling effect.

This landmark study paves the way for a more realistic understanding of pollution’s role in climate cooling. Besides being bad for our health, air pollution does not significantly reduce global warming, and not tackling it immediately could have far worse consequences.