Here's a conversation starter for you (try it out at the dinner table this holiday season… or maybe not): According to a new study published in the science magazine, Nature, air pollution may actually deter global warming and clean air may accelerate it. Bollocks, you say? Well it actually makes sense: Particulates in the atmosphere (called aerosols) caused by smokestacks, charcoal grills and other human activities, absorb and diffuse sunlight, thereby having a cooling effect.