While much of the debate around climate change has been about carbon dioxide – and rightly so – a growing number of studies and experts are now talking about other greenhouse gases and substances, which are often referred to as super-pollutants.
Recent studies have highlighted how these pollutants, including tropospheric ozone, methane and black carbon are driving a large amount of global warming, despite being relatively overlooked.
A recent report by the Clean Air Fund highlights the impact of tropospheric ozone, which it warns poses a “triple threat” to climate stability, public health, and food and ecosystem security.
It adds as the world rapidly warms, levels of tropospheric ozone are projected to increase in all scenarios, exacerbating the most damaging impacts of climate change and harming human health.
“Ozone is not just a scientific puzzle, but a real-world pollutant rising in many regions, even where other pollution is falling,” the report states.
“The next five years are a decisive window for climate and sustainable development.”
And it says tackling super pollutants can help secure fast climate benefits and avoid crossing critical tipping points.
And another recent study by scientists from the University of Reading, found that while levels of two types of air pollution – nitrogen dioxide and PM2.5 – have improved over the last decade in the U.K, surface zone had got worse.
According to the report, the number of days when surface ozone, which is formed when sunlight exceeded World Health Organisation targets doubled from 7 to 14 per year.
Report lead author, Dr James Weber, said while pollution from traffic is getting better, there needs to be both local action and international cooperation to improve all types of air pollution, in a statement.
“The fact that surface ozone is getting worse while other pollution improves shows we need to think carefully about how we tackle this problem and not focus on pollutants in isolation,” added Dr Weber.
The executive director of Global Heat Reduction and corporate climate specialist, Kiff Gallagher said modern carbon account models are under-counting the impact of short-term super-pollutants, and have instead focussed on long-term greenhouse gases, in an interview.
Gallagher added super-pollutants have a warming impact between 100 and 1,000 times greater than carbon dioxide in the short-term.
“Super pollutants have been somewhat undervalued, and in a lot of instances, completely overlooked,” Gallagher told me.
“The rate of warming globally has exceeded some of the most aggressive forecasts. And so, people are now looking into why this is happening, and how can we put a stop to it?”
He added it was important for businesses and governments to expand their emission assessments and measure super-pollutants.
Gallagher said the IPCC has announced they are going to give publish in 2027 methodologies around super pollutants to enable governments and companies to get a better handle on their impact.
“We cannot get to limiting temperatures to under two degrees Celsius from pre-industrial areas without including super pollutants, in addition to carbon dioxide,” he told me.
Total Climate Accounting’s Dr. Katie Kaku said many people still do not realize how super-pollutant related air pollution is closely tied to rising heat levels, in an interview.
Dr. Kaku added organisations really should be focusing on driving down super pollutant emissions right now in order to reduce rising temperatures.
“In order to get a handle on air pollution, we have to address is our heat levels and ozone in particular,” she told me.
“If we were to address super pollutants first, then we could absolutely get a better handle on the accelerating pace of climate change.
“I would recommend any businesses to get a plan to address methane emissions, black carbon emissions, refrigerant emissions, if they were truly serious about reducing heat impacts,” added Dr. Kaku.
