from TreeHugger.com
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY
It's likely not long before Arctic ice melt reaches levels where trans-Arctic shipment of goods is no longer headline-making, but commonplace. With that comes more black carbon air pollution from ships--soot to you and me--and, that means already disproportionately high levels of warming will increase and with those, more ice melting. A new report in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics highlights the issue:
James Corbett, professor of marine science and policy at the University of Delaware, lead author of the study says,
One of the most potent short-lived climate forcers in diesel emissions is black carbon, or soot. Ships operating in or near the Arctic use advanced diesel engines that release black carbon into one of the most sensitive regions for climate change. (Science Codex)
Though it's certainly a wide range of possible impact, the study concludes that in a high-growth scenario this increased black carbon pollution could increase warming in the region by 17-78% by 2030... read more story at TreeHugger.com
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