Contribution of short-lived climate pollutants to global warming

The US NOAA Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI) provides a simple accessible analysis of the contribution of a range of GHGs to global warming (see previous item). A more detailed recent study ‘Mitigating climate disruption in time: A self-consistent approach for avoiding both near-term and long-term global warming’ looks at the implications of controlling long-lived gases (CO2) and short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) in the drive to minimise the increase in global warming. SLCPs are black carbon, methane, tropospheric ozone, and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). This study clarifies the need for comprehensive CO2 and non-CO2 mitigation approaches to address both near-term (before 2050) and long-term warming (after 2050).