Sunday, February 27, 2011
If more effort is put into reducing the release of short-lived pollution, the rate of global warming could be slowed dramatically, say scientists in a new United Nations report.
The study produced by the UN Environment Programme found that the rise in worldwide temperatures could be cut in half in the near future if governments focused on reducing emissions of black carbon and ground-level ozone, including methane, rather than just carbon dioxide.
Reducing black carbon emissions would entail banning open-field burning of agricultural waste, replacing industrial coke ovens with modern recovery ovens, introducing clean-burning biomass cook stoves for cooking and heating in developing countries and eliminating high-emitting vehicles.
Cutting ground-level ozone and methane requires upgrading wastewater treatment, controlling methane emissions from livestock and reducing gas emissions from long-distance pipelines.
These strategies would have to be implemented in key developing countries, such as China, India, Brazil and South Africa.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Global Warming Rate Could Be Halved by Controlling 2 Pollutants, U.N. Study Says (by Darryl Fears, Washington Post)
Integrated Assessment of Black Carbon and Tropospheric Ozone: Summary for Decision Makers (United Nations Environment Program) (pdf)
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