Breathe Life

Ozone, black carbon and methane are all called ‘short-lived climate pollutants’ (SLCPs) because they ‘live’ in the atmosphere for a relatively short time – about a week to 10 days (for black carbon) and a decade (for methane). The good news, however, is that if short-lived climate emissions can be reduced, then their concentrations in the atmosphere drop rapidly. This means a noticeable improvement on people’s health as well as reduced near-term global warming. While the world urgently needs to reduce CO2 emissions as a long-term solution to climate change, carbon dioxide persists in the atmosphere for a century or more. So reducing SLCPs can help slow the pace of warming, buying time until CO2 emissions reductions begin to have an impact.

In one recent assessment, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) estimated that the pace of climate change could be reduced by as much 0.5⁰ C (2010-2050) if a range of affordable measures to reduce SLCP emissions were immediately put into place, including diesel engine and fuel improvements, clean cooking and home heating solutions, improved municipal waste management, and others.

Such measures would also have significant health benefits. Take black carbon emissions, for instance. Black carbon is a key component of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). When inhaled, PM2.5 penetrates deep into our lungs, increasing the risk of disease and premature death. Black carbon enters the air as ‘soot’ particles from the incomplete combustion of biomass and fossil fuels in cookstoves and heaters, diesel engines and vehicle operation, open pit waste burning, and brick production. Black carbon particles also contribute to longer-term climate change impacts by absorbing sunlight and warming the atmosphere. Black carbon emissions thus accelerate the melting of glaciers and amplify changes in monsoon cycles – with implications for water availability and agricultural production.
 

Methane is a very powerful greenhouse gas, especially in the short term, with a warming potential up to 20 times that of carbon dioxide. About 60% of methane emissions are from human sources – primarily agriculture (livestock manure), fossil fuel production and distribution, and municipal solid waste. While methane itself does not directly affect health, it reacts in the atmosphere with other urban and peri-urban or rural pollution emissions to create tropospheric ozone – harmful to respiratory health. And ozone inhibits plant development, leading to declines in agricultural productivity.

Breathe Life Events

BREATHE Exhibit: In May, 2015, an art and multimedia exhibit was held on the sidelines of the 68th World Health Assembly to raise awareness of the impacts of air pollution on health. The exhibit was curated by two international groups, CoCLIMATE and CARBON ARTS,  and featured artists working at the intersection of the visual and design arts, sciences, and technology, in an effort to make scientific information tangible to our senses, and stimulate reflections on the importance of addressing air pollution, health and climate change.

The exhibit also travelled to COP21 to highlight the impact short-lived cliamte pollutants have on health.