Fighting Super Pollutants
FIGHTING SUPER POLLUTANTS: Fast-Acting Solutions to Bend the Warming Curve
Presentation by Jonathan Cole and North County Climate Change Alliance Most efforts to combat climate change focus on reduction of carbon dioxide. However, the long lifetime of CO2 in the atmosphere means that it could take decades for the benefit of emissions reductions to take effect. Reducing powerful but short-lived “super pollutants” (methane, black carbon and HFCs) could have an almost immediate effect on rising temperatures while we continue to reduce carbon dioxide for long-term climate stability. We’ll learn about efforts in California and worldwide to cut emissions of these dangerous pollutants, and the benefits of reductions for human health as well as the global climate. Jonathan Cole has been teaching physics at MiraCosta College since 1984. He has been studying climate change for over twenty years, including research as a Visiting Scholar at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, and graduate work in Scripps’ climate science program. He has been offering an introductory course in climate change at MiraCosta since 2014.