- AMSTERDAM: A UN agency says reducing emissions of black carbon and ozone, the main ingredients of soot and smog, will slow climate change.
The UN Environment Program says reductions of carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas that comes mainly from burning fossil fuels, is the key to the long-term struggle against global warming.
But it says reducing black carbon, ozone and methane is an effective short-term measure.
Unlike CO2, which stays for centuries in the atmosphere, these elements dissipate after weeks or months. But they have a powerful effect on global warming.
Black carbon is especially damaging when it settles on Arctic snow and glaciers, absorbing sunlight.
UNEP released the report Tuesday at UN climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany.