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 Water droplets in clouds are formed by water vapour condensing on particulates. The increased number of particulates in the air increases the number of water droplets in clouds. As a result, there is an increased amount of reflection of solar radiation back into space. This reduction of heat reaching the earth is known as global dimming.

 When fossil fuels are burned,green house gases and by-products are formed. Examples of by-products are pollutants like ash, soot and sulphur dioxide. These impurities are responsible for changing the properties of the clouds. Contrails, the vapors of the aircraft, also contribute in Global Dimming.

 Global dimming has already killed living beings on massive level. The reflecting back of heat has turned the water of northern hemisphere colder. With waters temperature getting down less rain is generated and the required amount of rain is failed to reach The Sahel, Northern Africa. It is now reveal that the complex starvation of 1970s and 1980s were caused by the less number of rains.

 The BBC documentary concluded that the smoke coming out of power stations and pipes of North America and Europe is responsible for the death of millions of people in Africa while making the life of more than 50 million people miserable.

 Scientists have also linked global dimming to the failure of rains in sub-Saharan Africa and the disastrous droughts that hit Ethiopia in the 1980s. They worry that the same thing will happen again in areas like Asia, home to billions of people.

 Global dimming can be reduced by cleaning up the emissions from burning fossil fuels and the emissions from vehicles. However, a focus on particulates only would result in an increased effect of global warming. In essence, the sources of both greenhouse gases and air particulates must be addressed. It has been considered that the heat waves in Europe in 2003, resulting in thousands of deaths, could have been the result of the action of the European Community to reduce particulate emissions, without considering a reduction in greenhouse gases.

 Climatologists emphasis that the source of global warming and global dimming must be tackled together. Drastic reductions of the burning of fossil fuels is required to reduce the effects of greenhouse gases and the particulates which are giving rise to global dimming.