Third-World Stove Soot Is Target in Climate Fight

The New York Times

Published: April 15, 2009

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL

It has been discovered that emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) is the main chemical factor that causes the global warming. Carbon dioxide has been accused of trapping heat in the Earth, leading to the increase in temperature. This gas is mainly produced in developed countries where pollutants-causing activities, such as using cars and industrial production, are taking place.

However, scientists have recently discovered that soot is emerging as a runner-up source of global climate change. Soot is also known as black carbon and is mainly produced in developing or undeveloped countries where twigs and dung are burnt into this chemical.

Dr. Veerabhadran Ramanathan is one of the world's leading climate scientists. He said during his visit to Kohlua, India, "It's hard to believe that this is what's melting the glaciers."

Although there is no change in the fact that carbon dioxide (CO2) is the No.1 contributor to the global warming, black carbon (soot) is stuided to be a significant contributor to the global issue. Recent studies show that black carbon is responsible for 18 percent of the warming, while carbon dioxide is accountable for 40 percent of the planet's warming.

As nations are struggling to implement the much-harder task of curbing carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, it is important to buy time. Thus, decreasing emissions of black carbon would be a relatively cheap and simple way to control global warming. Scientists say that simpmly replacing primitive cooking stoves, that are mainly used in undeveloped countries, with modern versions would provide a stopgap in the world's combat against global warming. This simple replacement will definitely slow down the warming because black carbon, compared to carbon dioxide, stays in the atmosphere for far less amount of time. Carbon dioxide(CO2) lingers in the atmosphere for years, whereas black carbon(soot) stays there for only a few weeks. Therefore, the replacement of cookstoves in undeveloped countries would more quickly remove black carbon in the atmosphere than shutting down a coal plant to reduce CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere.

Dr. Ramanathan said, "It is clear to any person who cares about climate change that this will have a huge impact on the global environment." He is currently working with the Energy and Resources Institute in New Delhi on a project to provide poor families in undeveloped countries with new stoves of modern version.

Although a swift movemetn to remove the No.2 contributor is necessary, the awareness of black carbon's role in climate change has been so recent that it was not even mentioned as a warming agent in the 2007 summary report by the Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change. The dominant idea of black carbon as a contributor has been that the impact of the gas is insignificant  to be considered because it settles in one palce over time, instead of travelling around the globe. However, recent studies found soot from India in the Maldivie Islands and on the Tibetan Plateua, which means black carbon do travel around the globe and can melt the glaciers far away. Thus, the United Nations is trying to figure out how to include black carbon in climate change programs.

Dr. Ramanathan also warned, "in terms of climate change we're diving fast toward a cliff," and was optimistic that "this could buy us time."

Opinion: Global warming is one of the most difficult and demanding task before human. As Dr. Ramanathan warned, we are driving fast forward toward a cliff in terms of climate change. And it is necessary to address this issue as effectively as possible by studying the causes of the warming and making a long-term plan based on the studies to reduce the causes. Thus, I think it is a great accomplsihment that scientists have discovered a new contributor to global warming as we can now take actions to prevent emissions of the gas. As the article says, it is relatively simple and cheapt to reduce the emissions of black carbon (soot). We know the major source of the chemical is undeveloped countries where twigs and dung are burnt to fuel cookstoves. The only problem is that most people in undeveloped countries cannot afford a new modern-version stove. Therefore, I think it is necessary for the international organizations to launch projects to provide undeveloped countries with modern stoves. There is one more reason, beside global warming, why we should find a way to reduce black carbon emissions in the third-world. The reason is that the gas also has devastating health effects in human body. As we learned in Civics class, a global citizen should realize that all peoplese and countries are interconnected. Although it may sound less important for us because it is not currently affecting us, we should realize that global warming is a global issue that we all should fight for our goods.