https://e360.yale.edu/digest/southeast-asia-aerosols-rainfall?asds Close / - - Search [ ]Search Yale Environment 360 Published at the Yale School of the Environment * Explore * Search * About E360 E360 Digest October 17, 2025 When Pollution Spikes in Southeast Asia, Rainfall Shifts from Land to Sea Haze over Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Haze over Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sergei Gussev New research finds that heavy pollution in Southeast Asia is suppressing rainfall over land while intensifying it over the ocean. Cars, factories, and power plants are producing tiny particles, called aerosols, that turn cities hazy. By blocking sunlight, aerosols have a cooling effect, and that effect is more pronounced over land, where pollution is concentrated, than it is over the sea. "Aerosols act like a brake on daytime heating over land, but the ocean hardly feels that brake," said Kyong-Hwan Seo of Pusan National University in South Korea, lead author of the new research. To understand the impact on weather, scientists modeled the effect of aerosols in Southeast Asia, from Thailand to the Philippines, and the surrounding seas. They found that when pollution spikes, rainfall grows up to 50 percent more intense over the ocean. The reason, they believe, is that as warm air rises over the sea, it draws moisture away from the land, yielding heavier downpours. On land, however, rainfall is more meager and, instead of coming down late in the day, it tends to come down overnight. "We're seeing a delay from the usual late-afternoon storms to a midnight peak," said Seo. Researchers said the findings, published in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, can help weather forecasters determine when pollution will diminish rainfall, helping officials to better predict floods and better manage the supply of fresh water. ALSO ON YALE E360 As Floods Worsen, Pakistan Is the Epicenter of Climate Change * Facebook * Twitter * Email Related Articles * Flooding in Peshawar, Pakistan in August. As Floods Worsen, Pakistan Is the Epicenter of Climate Change By Fred Pearce * Salt workers in West Bengal, India. Heat Stress Is a Major Driver of India's Kidney Disease Epidemic By Kanika Gupta * A liquefied natural gas tanker at the Sabine Pass export terminal in Cameron, Louisiana. It's a 'Golden Age' for U.S. LNG Industry, But Climate Risks Loom By Jonathan Mingle More From E360 * Biodiversity As Jaguars Recover, Will the Border Wall Block Their U.S. Return? * WATER An E.U. Plan to Slash Micropollutants in Wastewater Is Under Attack * INTERVIEW This Data Scientist Sees Progress in the Climate Change Fight * Climate As Floods Worsen, Pakistan Is the Epicenter of Climate Change * Climate Heat Stress Is a Major Driver of India's Kidney Disease Epidemic * Energy It's a 'Golden Age' for U.S. LNG Industry, But Climate Risks Loom * Climate How Climate Risks Are Putting Home Insurance Out of Reach * INTERVIEW Inside the Plastics Industry Playbook: Delay, Deny, and Distract * Biodiversity Freeing Captive Bears from Armenia's Backyards and Basements * Food & Agriculture In Indonesia's Rainforest, a Mega-Farm Project Is Plowing Ahead * FILM CONTEST WINNER In the Yucatan, the High Cost of a Boom in Factory Hog Farms * INTERVIEW In the Transition to Renewable Energy, China Is at a Crossroads E360 * About E360 * Reprints * Contact * Support E360 * Privacy Policy * Submission Guidelines * Newsletter Published at the Yale School of the Environment