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Oct
29
2009
Reducing air pollution could hasten global warming
Cleaning up air pollution may seem like an environmental no-brainer. But some aerosols have a cooling effect, raising the possibility that pollution control measures will speed up global warming, researchers write in a Perspective article in Science.
Pollutants can have varying effects on climate. Black carbon aerosol, for example, warms the atmosphere by absorbing sunlight. Sulfate aerosols, on the other hand, reflect light and cool the climate down.
According to recent studies, air pollution control is likely to result in a net warming effect, the authors write. For instance, one model suggests that aggressive aerosol reduction over the next couple of decades could cause almost as much warming as increased greenhouse gas emissions. That doesn’t mean we should stop cleaning the air, notes lead author Almut Arneth of Lund University in Sweden. But, she says, the added effect of pollution control could make it more difficult to meet climate goals than we thought.
A study published in the same issue of Science also points to the need for a more holistic treatment of pollution and climate change. Researchers found that methane and carbon monoxide have greater potential to warm the planet than previously estimated, due to interactions with aerosols in the atmosphere. Study leader Drew Shindell of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York says he hopes the results will encourage policies targeting the reduction of these gases, along with black carbon aerosol, in order to achieve short-term climate gains. – Roberta Kwok
Source: Arneth, A., Unger, N., Kulmala, M., & Andreae, M. (2009). Clean the Air, Heat the Planet? Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1181568
Source: Shindell, D., Faluvegi, G., Koch, D., Schmidt, G., Unger, N., & Bauer, S. (2009). Improved Attribution of Climate Forcing to Emissions Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1174760
Image © Goldmund, iStockPhoto.com
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