In the beginning of the Finance COP, WDHT webcasted this interview on "Super Pollutants". Super Pollutants cause air pollution and serious health impacts and global warming simultaneously. Super Pollutants are relatively short lived. Most common super pollutants are Methane, Nitrous Oxide, Troposporic Ozone, Ozone depleting substances like refrigerants.
Super pollutants usually have much higher global warming potential (GWP) but are short-lived. GWP is expressed in terms of CO2. GWP is how much heat is trapped by CO2, usually in 100 years. GWP of Methane-fossil is 28 times means that same amount of Methane-fossil as that of CO2 traps 29.8 times more heat than CO2. Methat -fossile is Methane, which is emitted from burning of fossil fuel. GWP of Methane, which is generated from burning of non-fossil fuel are slightly lower (27) than GWP of Methane which is generated from burning of fossil fuel. The GWP of N2O is 273 and those of refrigerants are several thousands. Reducing Super pollutants from atmosphere can have immediate cooling. An estimate says, 0.5-degree cooling can be achieved by removing the super pollutants from atmosphere by 2030.
In other words, these short-lived air pollutants attack us at global level, National level, regional level and also at our own body cell level. Action needs to be taken to remove these supe pollutants for immediate returns.
One of the major challenges in this approach are monitoring and verification of methodologies to assessment of quantity of super pollutants, which are being emitted. Few super pollutants are not emitted from any sources like fossil fuel burning but are formed due to reaction between substances present in the air. Martina Otto, very nicely pointed out that tropospheric Ozone is one such chemicals. Removing super pollutants, therefore, also means removing the root causes, which are generating super pollutants. Estimation and measurements of super pollutants are, therefore, a difficult task.
Good news is this barrier is being removed.
An excellent session has recently taken place on “Upcoming methodological reports from IPCC on CO2 removals and short lived chemicals “. Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change or IPCC in its seventh assessment cycle has included the standardizations of methodologies for assessment of CO2 removals and shorth lived chemicals like N2O. Methodologies for measurement of Methane was included earlier. Success of Montreal Protocol in removal of first generation of Ozone Depleting Substances is encouraging the doers to take similar pathways.
Technologies are available and consensus is growing. for reduction of super pollutants. It is to be seen if this time the goal is achieved in time or not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCZWrX1tv6Q&t=1514s
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By removing the root causes of the emissions everything will be curbed