Their assertion is that while dealing with the ‘headline' greenhouse pollutant, excessively-high CO2 levels in the atmosphere, is expensive, difficult and slow, there are other targets that could buy the planet a breathing space in the meantime.
The measures proposed by the NASA / Columbia University team focus instead on soot and methane. By making these - particularly soot and methane - the targets of more immediate action, lead author Drew Shindell of NASA precticts that as much as 0.5 degrees Celsius could be shaved off the predicted temperature rise by 2050, while delivering some important side benefits.
For example, he said, global crop yields could be increased by more than 135 million tonnes, and soot-related deaths could be cut by at least 700,000 annually.
Shindell's ideas, which received some exposure last year (this follow-up study is much more comprehensive, he says), include capturing methane from landfills and coal mines; cleaning up cooking stoves and diesel engines; and changing agricultural techniques.
There are examples around the world where suitable measures have been adopted at a local level; the problem is that few or none are used everywhere.
The study, Simultaneously Mitigating Near-Term Climate Change and Improving Human Health and Food Security, published in Science involved screening more than 400 soot and methane reduction processes to identify the most effective - those with the greatest payoff at least cost. Read the full report here.
Source: by Richard Chirgwin, The Register.
