The Clean Air Act Actually Caused More Rain to Fall on Atlanta

Among the many problems caused by pollution – and there are a lot of them – particulate matter in the air also messes with the weather. Pollution can suppress rainfall, meaning, in theory, that if we cut down on emissions from cars and factories, nearby areas might receive more rain.

Exactly this appears to have happened in Atlanta since the passage the Clean Air Act of 1970, and evidence collected there by Georgia State University researcher Jeremy Diem suggests that something very similar may have happened in other urban areas, too. Diem's research, published in the journal Atmospheric Environment, analyzed data collected between 1948 and 2009 at nine weather stations located around the Atlanta region, some as far as 80 kilometers away from the city center.