NGas Impact: Focus on CO2 alone will not reach net-zeroInteresting perspective to those who believe that NGas has a continuing longer-term role, not just in replacing Coal-sourced Electricity Generation Plants, but in greater global understanding:
Research from Duke University in the US shows that focusing efforts almost entirely on cutting CO2 emissions, as most governments currently do, can no longer prevent global temperatures from rising 1.5°C above pre-industrial times – a key aim of the Paris climate accord.
- Drastically reducing the world’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will not be enough to prevent global warming without also cutting other climate pollutants such as methane, nitrous oxide, black carbon soot, low-level ozone and hydrofluorocarbons, which contribute almost as much to global warming as longer-lived CO2.
- Study co-author Drew Shindell said. “Since most of these other climate pollutants last only a short time in the atmosphere, cutting them will slow warming faster than any other mitigation strategy.” It would also help us avoid a short-term warming “backlash” that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned could occur by cutting fossil fuel emissions alone.
- Recent IPCC reports have predicted that decarbonising the energy system and shifting to clean energy in isolation, could perversely cause temperatures to rise for a while because in addition to CO2, fossil fuel emissions contain sulphate aerosols, which act to cool the climate for a short time – from days to weeks – before they dissipate.
In contrast, reducing both CO2 and other climate pollutants simultaneously would significantly improve our chance of remaining below the 1.5°C mark.
Source: E&T editorial staff Published
Wednesday, May 25, 2022 Peace.,
Good Decision-making to All,
ElJ