Slashing CO2 emissions isn't enough to prevent climate catastrophe, study warns
2 years, 6 months ago

Slashing CO2 emissions isn't enough to prevent climate catastrophe, study warns

The Independent  

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions is not enough to prevent devastating effects of global warming, a new study warns. “To slow warming in the near-term and reduce suffering from the ever-increasing heatwaves, droughts, superstorms and fires, we need to also reduce short-lived climate pollutants this decade.” open image in gallery ‘Decarbonisation is crucial to meeting our long-term climate goals, but it’s not enough,’ study’s author warns According to the new research, focusing almost exclusively on cutting carbon dioxide emissions can no longer prevent global temperatures from rising above pre-industrial levels by 1.5 degree centigrade. “Our analysis shows that climate pollutants such as methane, nitrous oxide, black carbon soot, low-level ozone and hydrofluorocarbons contribute almost as much to global warming as longer-lived CO2,” Prof Shindell said. “Since most of them last only a short time in the atmosphere, cutting them will slow warming faster than any other mitigation strategy.” The scientist suggest that their solution will also help to avoid a short-term warming “backlash”- an event that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned could occur by cutting fossil fuel emissions alone. open image in gallery Cutting the emissions of methane and other climate pollutants could slash the rate of global warming in half by 2050 Recent IPCC reports have suggested that decarbonising the energy system and shifting to clean energy in isolation could cause temperatures to rise for a while because fossil fuel emissions contain sulphate aerosols, which act to cool the climate for a very short time — from days to weeks — before they dissipate.

History of this topic

The controversial machine sending CO2 to the ocean and making hydrogen
6 days, 19 hours ago
Earth is heating up faster than expected and humans are not ready for it
1 month ago
CoP-29: Prospects of a climate breakthrough look extremely bleak
1 month, 1 week ago
Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels have reached a record high - with 37.4 BILLION tonnes of CO2 pumped into the atmosphere this year, study reveals
1 month, 1 week ago
COP29: Planet-heating pollution to hit all-time high, dashing hopes it would start to drop in 2024
1 month, 1 week ago
World nears 1.5°C warming threshold, carbon budget dwindling
Trending News
1 month, 1 week ago
"Alarm bells ringing" as report finds greenhouse gas emissions growing faster than ever
1 month, 3 weeks ago
The world is “miles short” of its target to limit climate change, UN reports
1 month, 3 weeks ago
Global warming will be TWICE as bad as predicted: Earth is on track for 'catastrophic' 3.1°C of warming this century, the UN warns
1 month, 4 weeks ago
Temporarily overshooting global climate targets could be more damaging than predicted: study
2 months, 1 week ago
A new study unpacks the last 485 million years of Earth's temperature history
2 months, 4 weeks ago
Researchers warn methane emissions ‘rising faster than ever’
3 months, 1 week ago
Pollution of the potent warming gas methane soars and people are mostly to blame
3 months, 1 week ago
'Worrisome': Global methane spike imperils climate goals, study warns
4 months, 3 weeks ago
Climate change could slash global income by 19%
7 months, 2 weeks ago
Countries’ carbon removal plans not enough for 1.5C warming limit, study warns
7 months, 2 weeks ago
US energy industry methane emissions are triple what government thinks, study finds
9 months, 1 week ago
Greenhouse gases hit record high in 2022: UN
1 year, 1 month ago
UN says greenhouse gases in atmosphere hit record high in 2022
1 year, 1 month ago
‘Every bit matters’: Six key takeaways from the latest U.S. climate report
1 year, 1 month ago
Opinion: Climate change isn’t just about emissions. We’re ignoring a huge part of the fight
1 year, 2 months ago
Reducing fossil fuel emissions might have greater climate benefits than afforestation: IISc study
1 year, 5 months ago
Climate talks chief, who also heads oil company, says world must ‘attack all emissions, everywhere’
1 year, 5 months ago
Watch | Earth looks like gas giant Jupiter as carbon emissions engulf the planet
1 year, 6 months ago
Only around 13% of global methane emissions regulated: Study
1 year, 7 months ago
Explained: How scientists plan to use oceans to combat global warming
1 year, 8 months ago
Climate change: Can we really take CO2 back out the air?
1 year, 9 months ago
Cut emissions quickly to save lives, scientists warn in a new U.N. report
1 year, 9 months ago
Carbon dioxide emissions reached a record high in 2022
1 year, 9 months ago
Carbon dioxide emissions reached a record high in 2022
1 year, 9 months ago
It would take less than 3% of Big Oil’s profits to clean up methane emissions
1 year, 10 months ago
Study: Big gap in carbon removal effort key to climate goals
1 year, 11 months ago
Carbon removal efforts not moving fast enough to reach climate goals, study shows
1 year, 11 months ago
Climate Change: Planet-heating CO2 emissions rise in 2022
2 years, 1 month ago
U.N. weather agency: Greenhouse gases reach new record in 2021
2 years, 1 month ago
UN weather agency: Greenhouse gases reach new record in 2021
2 years, 1 month ago
Energy agency: CO2 emissions rise in 2022, but more slowly
2 years, 2 months ago
Federal study: New climate law to slice carbon pollution 40%
2 years, 4 months ago
Non-carbon emissions could ‘bump’ global temperatures above 1.5C within seven years, research warns
2 years, 6 months ago
Infographic: How can you reduce your carbon footprint?
2 years, 6 months ago
Climate scientists warn of increased climate change events as carbon emissions fail to drop
2 years, 6 months ago
Slashing carbon dioxide emissions isn't enough to avert catastrophic climate change, study warns
2 years, 6 months ago
Earth’s CO2 hits highest recorded level in human history
2 years, 7 months ago
Climate change: Humans generated 640 mn tons methane, 36 bn tons CO2 in 2021, scientists call it alarming
2 years, 8 months ago
World must halve emissions by 2030: IPCC
2 years, 8 months ago
‘Now Or Never’: New U.N. Report Sees Narrow Path For Averting Climate Catastrophe
2 years, 8 months ago
‘Now or never’ to avoid climate catastrophe: IPCC report
2 years, 8 months ago
Scientifically Speaking | Can we stop the climate crisis by sucking up CO2?
2 years, 8 months ago
Why we can’t curb global warming by just focusing on carbon emissions
3 years ago

Discover Related