There's Smoke, so was Climate Change

Scientists say cutting back on emissions from diesel engines could slow global warming quickly. (Picture from: http://science.nbcnews.com/)

Soot is not only causing hazy skies and a chronic cough. The black Carbon is also the number two contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide.

The results of four years study that conducted by an international panel concluded that black carbon was the soot particles in the smoke and haze (smog), contributed two times more to global warming than previously estimated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007.

UW atmospheric scientists Sarah 
Doherty (left) and Stephen Warren 
(right) taking snow samples in
Greenland in summer 2010. (Picture 
from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/)

"We were surprised to see the potential for the climate," said Sarah Doherty, atmospheric expert from the University of Washington in Seattle, USA, who was involved in the research. Control over soot emissions can benefit the climate which is much faster than trying to control carbon dioxide.

A paper published by the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, on January 15, 2013, it was proved that the indications from previous research indicated some true. Some researchers claim that such simulations underestimate black carbon emissions, says Doherty, like soot from forest and grassland fires, as well as emissions from Southeast Asia and East Asia.

This report not only examines previous studies, but also incorporates the latest research in order to calculate black carbon sources and understand its influence on climate.

Schematic overview of the primary black carbon emission sources and the processes that control the distribution of black carbon in the atmosphere and determine its role in the climate system. (Picture from: http://science.nbcnews.com/)

"Because of the actions to reduce carbon emissions very little, we tried to find what else we can do, especially to help places like the Arctic are melting much faster than we anticipated," said Doherty. "We hope that the reduction of black carbon emissions will give us time. But it's no substitute for cutting C02 emissions." *** [SCIENCEDAILY | TJANDRA DEWI | KORAN TEMPO 4117]

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