US Gets Hit By Super Pollutants
US air pollution problems have gotten worse. A new class of damaging airborne chemicals has been dubbed super pollutants.
According to Bloomberg, “So-called super pollutants – a group of greenhouse gases and aerosols including methane, black carbon, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and tropospheric ozone – are responsible for about 45% of warming to date, with carbon dioxide responsible for the other 55%.” This means in the war against global warming, there is a new sort of enemy. Super pollutants are less dense than CO2.
New Pollution Categories
Combatting pollution has, therefore, taken on a new wrinkle. The news service reports that the gases are super pollutants that disappear from the atmosphere faster than C02, so limiting them helps mitigate global warming faster.
It may be politically difficult to attack this category of air pollution. Bloomberg reports, “Despite their multi-hazardous natures, the Paris Agreement doesn’t require countries to single out super pollutants in climate action plans known as nationally-determined contributions or NDCs.”
The new challenge highlights one of the most critical aspects of fighting global warming. As new categories of pollution are discovered more frequently, it is necessary to find another category of solutions.
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