Research Finds Hope in Slowing Arctic’s Climate-Warming Black Carbon – Inside Climate News
Article Synopsis – Researchers have developed a new method for determining the source of black carbon—a particularly nasty type of pollution that can blanket the Arctic—giving some hope that this known accelerator of climate change could be slowed. Black carbon, the soot that darkens the sea ice, causing it to absorb heat from the sun instead of reflecting it, speeds up the rate at which the ice disappears. Black carbon can travel thousands of miles from where it is initially emitted, so finding the source of the pollution can make it more feasible for policymakers to attempt to stop it. The authors of the study gathered two years of black carbon data from eastern Siberia and developed the method for determining the source. The researchers found that, to their surprise, vehicles and residential sources were the main offenders, often coming all of the way from China, elsewhere in Russia and Europe. The next step, the authors say, will be analyzing other parts of the world. To read the actual article click here.