Monsoon rains in South Asia have suffered considerable cut backs over the past four decades, according to new research findings released on Thursday, which put much of the blame to aerosol particles spewed by human activities.

In a study published by the journal Science, researchers concluded that at least 10 percent of monsoon rains that normally soak the South Asian region, specifically the central and northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, were lost from 1950 through 1999 due to increasing consumption of fossil fuels.

Rainfalls from the month of June to September saw significant declines in the region during much the observed period, the study showed, as they were dried up by particles and carbon dioxide emissions that experts said not only warm up the planet but also cause health problems such as asthma complications, heart ailments and lung cancers.

Yet according to study co-author Yi Ming of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, while aerosol particles generally brings about harmful effects to Earth's regular climate cycles, they also contribute in delaying the onset of planet warming.

Ming told Reuters that concentrates of aerosol particles could actually send back into space significant amounts of sunlight which then generates some sort of cooling mechanisms that negatively affects the air circulation between the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

While the interactions between the particle emissions and air circulations in the regions hold back the regular monsoon downpours in the Indian subcontinent, Ming expressed optimism that the alarming trend could still be halted and reversed due to spirited efforts by Europe and the United States to curtail particles pollution.

And with major Asian economies advancing in breathtaking pace, specifically that of China and India, Ming said that it only expected that these economies will eventually implement measures that would radically reduce carbon emissions and particles pollution.

"Once countries are rich enough, they want to clean their air ... and the aerosol levels will be cut a lot out of concern for human health, like what happened in the U.S. and Europe," Ming was quoted by Reuters as saying.

The South Asia region should be able to appreciate the climate improvements over the next three decades, Ming added, which by then should see lesser incidence of aerosol emissions and the normalisation of the region's monsoon cycles.