Pollution from China and India is affecting the weather in America, especially the west coast, according to a recent study."During the past few decades, there has been a dramatic increase in atmospheric aerosols mostly sulfate and soot from coal burning especially in China and India," explains Professor Renyi Zhang, lead author of the study conducted by Texas A&M University researchers.

Both countries have seen huge increases in their economies, which mean more large factories and power plants to sustain such growth.

All of these emit immense quantities of pollution much of it soot and sulfate aerosols into the atmosphere, which is carried by the prevailing winds over the Pacific Ocean and eventually worldwide, the researchers reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"This pollution directly affects our weather," explained Zhang.

The study is the first large-scale analysis to draw a link between Asian air pollution and the changing Pacific weather patterns.

"The pollution transported from Asia makes storms stronger and deeper and more energetic," said Zhang, who is professor of atmospheric sciences.

"It is a direct link from large-scale storm systems to (human-produced) pollution."