Cooling effect of preindustrial fires on climate underestimated

The Industrial Revolution brought about many things: the steam engine, the factory system, mass production. But not, apparently, more wildfires. Actually, the opposite. A new study finds that emissions from fire activity were significantly greater in the preindustrial era, which began around 1750, than previously thought. As a result, scientists have underestimated the cooling effect the aerosol particles produced by these fires had on the past climate.