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Climate change: Soot's role underestimated, says study
BBC News
January 15, 2013
The New Black
The Economist
January 19, 2013
Burning Fuel Particles Do More Damage to Climate Than Thought, Study Says
The New York Times
January 15, 2013
Black carbon ranks as second-biggest human cause of global warming
Washington Post
January 15, 2013
Black carbon a powerful climate pollutant: study
China Post
January 17, 2013
Co-lead author David Fahey from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said, “This study confirms and goes beyond other research that suggested black carbon has a strong warming effect on climate, just ahead of methane.” The study, a four-year, 232-page effort, led by the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) Project, is likely to guide research efforts, climate modeling, and policy for years to come.
The report’s best estimate of direct climate influence by black carbon is about a factor of two higher than most previous work, including the estimates in the last Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment released in 2007, which were based on the best available evidence and analysis at that time.
Scientists have spent the years since the last IPCC assessment improving estimates, but the new assessment notes that emissions in some regions are probably higher than estimated. This is consistent with other research that also hinted at significant under-estimates in some regions’ black carbon emissions.
The results indicate that there may be a greater potential to curb warming by reducing black carbon emissions than previously thought. “There are exciting opportunities to cool climate by reducing soot emissions but it is not straightforward. Reducing emissions from diesel engines and domestic wood and coal fires is a no brainer, as there are tandem health and climate benefits. If we did everything we could to reduce these emissions we could buy ourselves up to half a degree less warming--or a couple of decades of respite,” says co-author Professor Piers Forster from the University of Leeds’s School of Earth and Environment.
The international team urges caution because the role of black carbon in climate change is complex. “Black carbon influences climate in many ways, both directly and indirectly, and all of these effects must be considered jointly”, says co-lead author Sarah Doherty of the University of Washington, an expert in snow measurements. The dark particles absorb incoming and scattered heat from the sun (solar radiation); they can promote the formation of clouds that can have either cooling or warming impact; and black carbon can fall on the surface of snow and ice, promoting warming and increasing melting. In addition, many sources of black carbon also emit other particles whose effects counteract black carbon, providing a cooling effect.
The research team quantified all the complexities of black carbon and the impacts of co-emitted pollutants for different sources, taking into account uncertainties in measurements and calculations. The study suggests mitigation of black carbon emissions for climate benefits must consider all emissions from each source and their complex influences on climate. Based on the analysis, black carbon emission reductions targeting diesel engines followed by some types of wood and coal burning in small household burners would have an immediate cooling impact.
In addition, the report finds black carbon is a significant cause of the rapid warming in the Northern Hemisphere at mid to high latitudes, including the northern United States, Canada, northern Europe and northern Asia. Its impacts can also be felt farther south, inducing changes in rainfall patterns from the Asian Monsoon. This demonstrates that curbing black carbon emissions could have significant impact on reducing regional climate change while having a positive impact on human health.
“Policy makers, like the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, are talking about ways to slow global warming by reducing black carbon emissions. This study shows that this is a viable option for some black carbon sources and since black carbon is short lived, the impacts would be noticed immediately. Mitigating black carbon is good for curbing short-term climate change, but to really solve the long-term climate problem, carbon dioxide emissions must also be reduced,” says co-lead author Tami Bond from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Owen Gaffney
Director of communications
International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme
Stockholm, Sweden
Mobile: +46 730208418
Email: Owen.gaffney@igbp.kva.se
Megan Melamed
IGAC Executive Officer
University of Colorado, CIRES
Boulder, CO USA
Phone: +1 (303) 492-7562
Email: megan@igacproject.org
Lead Author Contact Information:
Tami Bond
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Urbana, IL USA
Phone: +1 (217) 244-5277
Email: yark@illinois.edu
Sarah Doherty
Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean
University of Washington
Seattle, WA USA
Phone: +1 (206) 543-6674
Email: sarahd@atmos.washington.edu
David Fahey
ESRL, CSD
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Boulder, CO USA
Phone: +1 (303) 497-5277
Email: David.W.Fahey@noaa.gov
Piers Forster
School of Earth and Environment
University of Leeds
Leeds, UK
Phone: +44(0) 113 34 36476
Email: p.m.forster@leeds.ac.uk
(Contact Chris Bunting, Press Officer, +44 113 343 2049 or email c.j.bunting@leeds.ac.uk)
The new assessment, “Bounding the role of black carbon in the climate system: A scientific assessment,” is published online at the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, and can be accessed free of charge. The four coordinating lead authors are: Tami Bond (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Sarah Doherty (Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean, University of Washington, USA), David Fahey (NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA) and Piers Forster (University of Leeds, UK).
"Bounding the role of black carbon in the climate system: A scientific assessment" can be downloaded here.
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