Clean Carbon
Emission cut's benefits
Clean cooking stove.
Reducing methane and black carbon emissions could quickly tackle climate change while improving food security and people's health, especially in developing countries, a study reports. Scientists identified 14 emission control measures that, when applied together, could reduce global warming by around 0.5 degrees Celsius by 2050, avoid up to 4.7 million premature deaths, and boost crop yields by up to 135 million metric tonnes by 2030. Both black carbon (a component of soot) and methane in the atmosphere warm the climate, and black carbon is dangerous to health when inhaled. Methane is also responsible for boosting the production of ozone a gas that is useful for life on Earth when high up in the atmosphere where it screens some of the sun's radiation, but is dangerous lower down in the atmosphere where it damages plants, reducing agricultural productivity, and human health. The range of technological and regulatory measures, reported in Science, include targeting methane emissions from livestock and rice farming, and black carbon emissions from cooking stoves. The estimated benefits of cutting these emissions would far outstrip the costs of doing so, the authors said. South Asia and central Africa would reap the most health benefits and the Middle East would see the best yield improvements. This is because black carbon does not disperse evenly throughout the atmosphere and so cutting its emissions also has different regional effects. Cutting black carbon emissions could reduce drought risk, for example in the Sahel, because of its effect on rainfall patterns, and reverse changing monsoon patterns in South Asia. China and India combined could grow 20 million extra tonnes of crops as a result. Brazil, Pakistan and the United States would also see great gains. Overall, gains could be worth around US$8 billion per year globally, the scientists claim.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments