Greetings,
eco-loving viewers,
and welcome to
Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home.
On today's program
we examine the effects
of the short-lived climate
forcer, Black Carbon, on ice masses
and planetary warming,
and the role
that animal agriculture
and deforestation
for livestock raising
play in intensifying
Black Carbon's impact.
Black Carbon,
also known as soot, is a
powerful warming agent
that originates from
the incomplete combustion
of fossil fuels,
diesel exhaust, inefficient
cook stoves mainly used
in developing countries
burning biomass such as
dried dung, wood, brush,
or crop residue as fuel,
and the clearing forests
and savannas with fire.
When the Black Carbon
particles are airborne,
they have an intense
warming effect, but have
an even greater impact
when they are deposited
on ice masses.
This is a major concern
and why Black Carbon
emissions need to be
addressed immediately.
Its atmospheric lifespan
ranges from
one to four weeks
and its Global Warming
Potential (GWP)
over a 20-year timeframe,
has been calculated to be
between a staggering
1,600 to 4,700 times
the warming-power
of carbon dioxide.
Black Carbon's
warming effect occurs
in two ways:
(1) In the atmosphere
as black particles
absorb sunlight
and generate heat; and,
(2) Particles are deposited
on the Earth's surface,
in particular on ice masses
where they reduce
the ability of the ice
to reflect sunlight
back into space
and cause rapid melting
by generating heat
from absorbing sunlight.
Professor Jefferson Simões
is the director of the
Brazilian National Institute
for Cryospheric Sciences
and a National Delegate
to the Scientific Committee
on Antarctic Research
(SCAR).
He created the first
national laboratory
in Brazil dedicated to
glaciology and
geographical polar research,
and recently gave an
informative presentation
on the presence
of Black Carbon
in Antarctica and
its effect on ice masses
at the November 3, 2010
Leaders Preserving
Our Future:
Pace and Priorities
on Climate Change
conference in London, UK.
For more details
about the organizations
today's guests represent,
please visit
the following websites
Professor Jefferson Simões
of the Brazilian
National Institute
for Cryospheric Sciences
(Part of the Brazilian
Ministry of Science
and Technology)
www.CNPQ.br
John C. Topping
of the Climate Institute
www.Climate.org
Gerard Wedderburn-Bisshop
of the World Preservation
Foundation
www.WorldPreservationFoundation.org
