Norwegian scientists confirm that transport is responsible for climate change
Although it might not be a surprising revelation, some investigators in the Center for Development and Environment Research at the University of Oslo have published a report that quantifies and specifies what's the real effect of development and the environment. According to this report, transportation is responsible for 15 to 30 percent of the CO2 and O3 (ozone) that has been released to the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution. The report considers these two gases as the most harmful and responsible from the greenhouse effect, and they both come out from tailpipes.As our readers know, CO2 is the result of the combustion of any hydrocarbon. Ozone is what they call a "secondary pollutant", which is released to the atmosphere as a consequence of reactions where nitrogen oxydes (NOx) are involved. NOx are released with diesel fumes. The current Kyoto Protocol does not include any reference to NOx or CO (carbon monoxide).
The report points directly at road transport as the most important contributor since the end of the 19th Century, followed by air transport. Other means, such as railways, have reduced their impact in recent years. Remarkably, the report also finds that maritime transport might "cool" the planet in the medium term because of its emissions of SO4 and CO, which might reflect solar radiation.
[Source: ABC via Madrimasd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
hektik 7:18PM (1/08/2008)
Hola Xavier,
At this point of the story, everybody agrees that mankind is responsible for what we're doing. We've been trusting in our technology development to amend what the very technology spoiled. We should be assessing the fact that technology itself is not the only answer.
Hektik
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andy 7:04PM (1/08/2008)
Does anybody know about this site ( http://www.earthlab.com ) ? I have seen other environmental sites with carbon calculators like yahoo and tree huggers, but I am wondering what the deal with earthlab.com is? I saw they also published a list last month of the top ten greenest cities ( http://www.efficientenergy.org/Top-Ten-Green-Cities-in-the-United-States ). Does anyone know if this site is better than the others? Fill me in!
I took their carbon foot print test and it was pretty interesting, they said that I put out 4.5 tons of carbon, does anyone know about any other tests?
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rgseidl 7:36AM (1/09/2008)
That is a very misleading headline. It implies that transportation ALONE is responsible for global warming.
The transportation sector does indeed emit significant amounts of CO2 and indeed, its share is growing as other (stationary) sectors find it much easier to conserve energy. However, there is a world of difference between 15% and 100%.
Ozone emissions from modern on-road vehicles are extremely low. I don't doubt their importance in converting harmless NO to toxic NO2 long after it has left the tailpipe. However, NO2 - unlike N2O - is not a GHG. Tallying up global ozone emissions since the 19th century makes little sense in the context of a piece on global warming.
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Nate 7:11PM (1/09/2008)
www.climateaudit.org
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L.Wood 10:34AM (1/09/2008)
This stuff is getting really monotonous. I really do not believe anyone actually knows what is going on with the climate. There is strong evidence that global warming has been on hold since 2001 and may be heading for a cooling period. Rather than following the climate we should be spending our time following the money. If you are ready to give up control of your life and authorize government to control it in the name of saving the planet, go for it. I am not ready to make that kind of sacrifice in the face of what amounts to a lot of BS on the part of eco-weinies with their hands out for grant money.
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J. Myers 2:26PM (1/09/2008)
L. Wood, if you "follow the money" you'll find that your ideas come right out of Exxon's pocket.
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Domenick 9:25PM (1/09/2008)
http://www.realclimate.org/
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