A strange silver lining to natural disasters: 20% of global heating has been offset by the cooling effects from volcanic eruptions and wildfires since 2015, The Guardian reported last week, citing a study (pdf) published by Jinan University in China. The smoke and gas emitted into the high atmosphere from these events in the last eight years have absorbed heat leaving the Earth and reflected sunlight back to space, the news outlet explains. The greater than average amount of cooling in recent years is due to more low-latitude events — compared to events closer to the poles — where the smoke and gas is transported quickly around the globe by high-level winds and remains suspended for longer. The eruptions in southern Chile in 2015 and the 2019/20 Australian wildfires were the largest contributors to this phenomenon, according to the study.

But we can’t rely on the phenomenon: The rapid increase in greenhouse-gas warming means that the cooling effect from wildfires and volcanic eruptions are diminishing and cannot be relied on to offset global heating in the coming decades, the study concluded.