Health and Climate Impacts

Sources:
Produced most often by diesel engines, burning trash, and cooking or heating stoves that burn coal, kerosene or biomass (organic matter such as wood or animal waste).

Impact:
Black carbon particles are fine enough to penetrate deep into the lungs, bloodstream, heart and brain, causing inflammatory responses and other long-term health effects.

Reduction:
Fortunately, its lifespan is only up to ten days, so if emissions of black carbon and other short-lived climate pollutants were dramatically reduced in the next few years, global warming by 2050 would slow by as much as .5⁰ C.

Sources:
Forms when emissions of methane, nitrogen oxides and other “precursor” pollutants from industry, traffic, waste and energy production interact in the presence of sunlight.

Impact:
A major factor in respiratory illness and has been shown to decrease crop yields, spurring food security challenges and poor nutrition.

Reduction:
Depletes in a few days, but traces can remain for 1–2 months, acting as climate warming agents. Reductions can help prevent climate change impacts.

Sources:
40% of human-generated methane emissions come from agriculture, primarily rice paddies and livestock production. This is followed by emissions from sewage and solid waste, and oil and gas production.

Impact:
Methane emissions contribute significantly to the development of ground level ozone; chronic exposure to ozone is a factor in asthma and other chronic respiratory illnesses, and can harm childhood lung development.

Reduction:
Methane persists for about a decade, but improved waste management methods, including capture and combustion of methane as a clean energy source, would rapidly begin depleting emissions.