Areas downwind of pollutant-generating factories were found to have more snowfall, with aerosols suspected of triggering ice formation in clouds.

Satellite images reveal that when conditions are right, the pollution from industrial hotspots can cause snow to fall downwind and punch holes in clouds

The team found unique plumes of ice clouds near 67 metal and cement factories, paper mills and power plants in North America, Europe and Asia.

Anthropogenic aerosols, tiny solid and liquid air pollution particles, have masked a fraction of global warming caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gases. Climate researchers have known for decades that anthropogenic aerosols perturb liquid clouds by enabling the formation of a larger number of cloud droplets,