Global Warming Effect
In the frantic search for solutions to the crisis of global warming, climate scientists, policymakers, environmentalists and other concerned have overlooked a major cause of rising temperatures around the globe —- residue of black soot that darkens coats and exhaust stacks vehicles. Black carbon soot in May is the second largest contributor to global warming side of greenhouse gas emissions of carbon dioxide.
According to Professor of Environmental Engineering at Stanford Mark Z. Jacobson, "soot or black carbon, may be responsible for 15 to 30 per cent of global warming, but it is not even considered in any discussions about controlling climate change. "(" Nature ", ScienceDaily, February 9 2001). Jacobson also found that humans produce the most soot particles that pollute the atmosphere. He argues that the soot is mainly composed elemental carbon and 90 percent of it comes from the consumption of fossil fuels (especially coal, diesel, kerosene, natural gas, kerosene) and combustion of wood and other biomass. Jacobson also argues that a global reduction in emissions of soot and control combustion of biomass could appease the alarming rate of global warming and reduce our dependence on fuel production of soot. ( = "Target _blank" href = "http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/02/010208075206.htm"> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/02/010208075206.htm.)
Besides its impact on global warming, soot is bad for your health. The World Health Organization reports, about 2.7 million people die each year, air pollution and that reducing the burning of wood and other biomass would reduce warming World and save lives and improve health.
Other studies have dispelled the myth that burning wood and other biomass is "carbon neutral or green" and that fine particles emitted during the combustion process actually hasten climate change. ( www.burningissues.org under both "science" and "Global Warming" positions).
The warming effect of black carbon soot is much larger than previous estimates
The atmospheric scientist V. Ramanathan of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of Iowa chemical engineer Greg Carmichael found that "the black carbon soot, the combustion of wood and other biomass, cooking with solid fuels and diesel exhaust has a warming effect in the atmosphere three to four times greater than current estimates. "(Nature Geoscience 1, 221-227 (March 24, 2008). They calculated that soot and other forms of black carbon particles in May represent up to 60 per cent of the actual effect of global warming carbon dioxide and their results correlated with similar studies from Stanford, Caltech and NASA.
A simplified explanation of the warming effect is Although wood smoke cloud of fine particles. And as total suspended particulates in the air increases, decreases cloud cover, allowing more light sun to reach Earth. According to Ramanathan, about 35 percent of black carbon in the atmosphere of the planet comes from China and India. However, emissions Per capita carbon black soot from the United States and some European countries is still comparable to those of Asia. Research has also found Ramanathan that the warming effect of carbon black smog appear to accelerate the melting of Himalayan glaciers, leading to rapid drying of important source of drinking water for billions of people throughout Asia.
The Global International Panel on Climate Change (IGPCC) agreed that the black carbon soot is a major contributor to global warming
The 2007 Nobel IGPCC panel of about two thousand scientists have concluded that black carbon soot has disastrous effects of global warming air. This was significant because the soot had previously been no response as the main contributor to global climate. did not amplify the warming effect of carbon black has already been taken into account when mixed with other aerosols, creating other secondary fine particles.
Studies fine particles of wood smoke in different communities
An EPA study cites that "in some neighborhoods, some days, 90% of particle pollution is from residential wood heating. "(Jane Koenig and Timothy Larson, a summary of the emissions characterization and non-cancer respiratory effects of wood smoke, USEPA DOC # 453/R-93-036 ,1-919-541-0888).
A study conducted in two of San Jose, California locations showed that pollution from wood smoke was 4.4 times higher than gasoline or diesel powered vehicles. (A Comparison of source distributions of fine particles in two of San Jose, CA Places ", San Jose Speciation Trends Network.)
The next step
Because the urgency of reducing emissions of carbon black can not be overestimated, reducing Soot from wood smoke that would provide almost instant benefits in improving weather conditions in the United States. It would also societal benefits and immediate health. This would facilitate the political and regulatory momentum for mitigating carbon emissions black.
It is urgent to advance public awareness of the crucial role of wood smoke in global warming education and policy changes.
For those interested in more scientific data and education on wood smoke, see href = "http://www.burningissues.org/"> www.burningissues.org. The burning questions site was founded in 1988 as a special project of particulate pollution in the Loma Prieta Bay Area / Silicon Valley Chapter of the Sierra Club.
About the Author:
Julie Mellum is a Minneapolis realtor and president of Take Back the Air, an environmental organization focusing on the two most overlooked sources of pollution in our communities–wood smoke and chemical fragrances. She is the Midwest Diretor of Clean Air Revival, www.burningissues.org, a nonprofit online organization providing wood smoke scientific information. Julie is an enviromental activist with a focus on education and legislative changes for a healthier world.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Wood Smoke/black Carbon Soot: a Major Cause of Global Warming
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$15.95 The most eagerly awaited event in the editorial cycle at TIME Magazine is always the selection of the cover. The best covers capture the zeitgeist of the week while surviving the judgment of history. As browsing this collection of TIME cover art prints shows, TIME is as good a record as any of who and what mattered over the past 80-plus years. And so when TIME captures a person, an event or a tren... |
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Greenhouse Effect / TIME Cover: October 19, 1987, Art Poster by TIME Magazine
$19.95 The most eagerly awaited event in the editorial cycle at TIME Magazine is always the selection of the cover. The best covers capture the zeitgeist of the week while surviving the judgment of history. As browsing this collection of TIME cover art prints shows, TIME is as good a record as any of who and what mattered over the past 80-plus years. And so when TIME captures a person, an event or a tren... |
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Greenhouse Effect / TIME Cover: October 19, 1987, Art Poster by TIME Magazine
$15.95 The most eagerly awaited event in the editorial cycle at TIME Magazine is always the selection of the cover. The best covers capture the zeitgeist of the week while surviving the judgment of history. As browsing this collection of TIME cover art prints shows, TIME is as good a record as any of who and what mattered over the past 80-plus years. And so when TIME captures a person, an event or a tren... |
