Soot contributes more to global warming than previously thought-Study

Wednesday, 16 January 2013 09:52 By Ronald Musoke & Agencies

A new study released on Jan.15 suggests that soot—the fine black or brown powder that forms through incomplete combustion— plays a major role in Climate Change than previously thought.

The study says soot, produced from burning diesel, firewood, charcoal, cow-dung and other plant-derived residues is second only to carbon dioxide emissions and has supplanted methane as the second most significant global warming agent that humans are pumping into the atmosphere according to an exhaustive review of more than a decade’s worth of research on black-carbon soot emissions.

The study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres is relevant to Uganda where although the country contributes minute quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the majority of Ugandans still use firewood, charcoal, cow-dung and other crop residue for cooking and lighting.

The study notes that targeting soot could lead to quicker results in battling global warming.

Although carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuel and from land use changes remains the number one cause of global warming, the report notes that the direct effect of soot on air temperatures, as well as its indirect effect on ice and snow melts and on cloud formation and persistence are closing in. It further warns that given the uncertainties in the estimates, black carbon soot may even outpace carbon dioxide’s warming effect.

Soot remains in the atmosphere for around seven days which is a far shorter time than carbon dioxide which remains in the atmosphere for centuries. This means, the study suggests that efforts to reduce soot may apply an important brake to warming in the short term with quick results.

"There's a lot of promise in reducing black carbon" and other relatively short-lived warming agents, such as methane, said Tami Bond, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and one of the study's three lead authors.

"But there's also a lot of caution."

Bond added that although uncertainties surrounding some of its climate effects remain large, by properly moving to reduce black-carbon soot, the effort could have immediate climate and public-health benefits.

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Not only do wind turbines harness a truly clean energy source without using precious water, they contribute nothing to the carbon spewing out of too many other power generation facilities. It's interesting (not funny) that the US Congressional house dominated by Republicans would kill the entire wind industry as too expensive but are silent on the incentives fossil fuels have enjoyed for decades. Nor have I seen them lead the discussion of the true cost of carbon fuels...including heath costs. Look at the long term TOTAL cost of fossil fuels and the cheap production cost / kWh doesn't look so good. Of course, that's not an issue if your focus is quarterly profits with little regard for the planet your grand kids will inherit.

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More bulls**t about global warming its all make up please stop trying to sell us this crap so the gov. can push us around smilies/cry.gif

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Scott writes that global warming is BS and "all made up". It's sad that people like him do not believe in science anymore. I had a lady tell me that the other day. You have to wonder what kind of propaganda they listen to all day that they would give up on science and facts. Oh yea, facts have a liberal bias! I guess Scott missed the reporting last year that 61% of the country was, and still is, in a drought. It didn't pass me by as I buy a 50# bag of corn every week. It went from $8.50 to $11.75 a bag last year as corn crops failed all across the country. Too bad Scott is carrying water for the Koch Brothers.

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