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