Black Carbon Update: Up to 90% of Warming

A new study of the effect of black carbon on the melting of Himalayan glaciers demonstrates that 90% of melting is due to aerosols -- not CO2. More than 30% of melting is due to black carbon aerosol, and probably considerably more than 30%.

These findings are consistent with studies that show that significant (over half) amounts of arctic ice melting has been caused by black carbon and other aerosols.

Previous studies have shown that black carbon can have a powerful effect on local atmospheric temperature. “Black carbon can be very strong,” Menon says. “A small amount of black carbon tends to be more potent than the same mass of sulfate or other aerosols.”

Black carbon, which is caused by incomplete combustion, is especially prevalent in India and China; satellite images clearly show that its levels there have climbed dramatically in the last few decades. The main reason for the increase is the accelerated economic activity in India and China over the last 20 years; top sources of black carbon include shipping, vehicle emissions, coal burning and inefficient stoves. According to Menon’s data, black carbon emitted in India increased by 46 percent from 1990 to 2000 and by another 51 percent from 2000 to 2010. _Source

Melting glaciers and ice sheets have been used as an example of the effect of CO2 on climate, when in actuality they are an example of the effect of aerosol pollutants -- largely from China and India.

But then, you did not need this blog to tell you that CO2 hysteria is a scam, right?