Black Carbon Impact on People and the Planet
The justly well-regarded Health Effects Institute is out with a new study that has obvious implications for public health, but I believe it should impact the climate change debate as well.
The study suggests people exposed to airborne soot are nearly twice as likely to die from heart disease that previously thought. Here's a description from The New York Times article:
The review found that the risk of having a condition that is a precursor to deadly heart attacks for people living in soot-laden areas goes up by 24 percent rather than 12 percent, as particle concentrations increase.
A variety of sources produce fine particles, and they include diesel engines, automobile tires, coal-fired power plants and oil refineries.
When you see the source of these emissions, you can start to see why this public health study makes climate news as well.
Climate change folks have been talking about soot, too, except we call it "black carbon." Reducing black carbon protects the Earth's albedo (reflectivity) by reducing deposition of soot on reflective surfaces, both man-made and natural, particularly the Earth's vanishing glaciers and icepacks. Black carbon-intense activities like cooking fires and land clearing in the developing world have been connected to public health issues too. Plans to capture these emissions and create biochar would benefit the planet and the people, a win-win for the developing world.
But it isn't just about the developing world. As the Waxman-Markey bill moves through Congress, it is worth pointing out that putting a price on carbon and limiting black carbon emissions won't just make Americans safer in the long-term, but it will make us healthier in the short-term.
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