Trakar
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- Feb 28, 2011
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Obama, Xi Make Deal on Greenhouse Gases
Wall Street Journal
Excerpts:
The two countries announced an agreement to phase out the use of a hydrofluorocarbons, a kind of gas that has gained widespread use in recent years for industrial applications, especially as a refrigerant. HFCs are particularly potent greenhouse gases, hundreds or even thousands of times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
The White House said the agreement with China to phase out HFCs through the existing Montreal Protocol could eventually cut global emissions by the equivalent of 90 billion tons of CO2, or two years worth of global greenhouse-gas emissions.
Unlike CO2, which can last in the atmosphere for a century, greenhouse gases such as methane and HFCs only stay in the atmosphere for a few weeks or monthsbut they pack a powerful warming wallop while they do. Another short-lived pollutant is soot, prevalent in many developing countries.
In recent years, momentum has been building for policymakers to grab the low-hanging fruit and take steps to curb short-lived pollutants. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry joined a group of other foreign ministers to call for a phase-down of HFCs at last months Arctic Council meeting.
Recent research suggests that tackling short-lived climate pollutants could cut the rate of global warming and sea-level rise in halfand the effects could be even more dramatic in certain regions where soot accumulates locally, contributing to glacier melt and other immediate woes
Every litter bit helps.
Wall Street Journal
Excerpts:
The two countries announced an agreement to phase out the use of a hydrofluorocarbons, a kind of gas that has gained widespread use in recent years for industrial applications, especially as a refrigerant. HFCs are particularly potent greenhouse gases, hundreds or even thousands of times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
The White House said the agreement with China to phase out HFCs through the existing Montreal Protocol could eventually cut global emissions by the equivalent of 90 billion tons of CO2, or two years worth of global greenhouse-gas emissions.
Unlike CO2, which can last in the atmosphere for a century, greenhouse gases such as methane and HFCs only stay in the atmosphere for a few weeks or monthsbut they pack a powerful warming wallop while they do. Another short-lived pollutant is soot, prevalent in many developing countries.
In recent years, momentum has been building for policymakers to grab the low-hanging fruit and take steps to curb short-lived pollutants. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry joined a group of other foreign ministers to call for a phase-down of HFCs at last months Arctic Council meeting.
Recent research suggests that tackling short-lived climate pollutants could cut the rate of global warming and sea-level rise in halfand the effects could be even more dramatic in certain regions where soot accumulates locally, contributing to glacier melt and other immediate woes
Every litter bit helps.
