Furthermore, researchers say, CO₂'s long lifespan and inertia means even an immediate and substantial reduction in CO₂ emissions will take years to alter Arctic warming trends. Yet the same reduction in short-lived pollutants, they note, could substantially reduce Arctic warming now - and bring numerous health benefits to people throughout the Northern Hemisphere.

"We have very little leverage to affect the effects of CO₂," said Drew Shindell of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. "This is not so for short-lived pollutants."

Elizabeth Grossman is a Portland-based writer and author, most recently, of "High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxics, and Human Health."

This article originally ran at The Daily Climate, the climate change news source published by Environmental Health Sciences, a nonprofit media company.

2 Comments

1. 1. eco-steve 03:16 PM 2/3/09

   This Ice-melt feedback loop in the arctic would appear to be an example of a tipping-point.

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2. 2. chubbee 08:47 AM 2/13/09

   And everyone is going to jump on the bandwagon and shut down their industry to cub this warming.
   All the people employed in these industries will simply live on the warm fuzzy feeling they get from lower arctic temperatures.

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