Soot, also known as black carbon, is the second-leading cause of global warming after carbon dioxide, and it’s totally preventable. We already have the technology to avoid producing it; it’s just a matter of using it.

Here’s what you should know:

  • The chief culprit in global warming is carbon dioxide. But recent studies show that black carbon—microscopic airborne particles commonly known as soot—is also a big factor. Black carbon may account for as much as half of Arctic warming. Curbing black carbon is crucial for slowing Arctic and global warming, and for averting catastrophic tipping points such as the melting of sea ice and the Greenland ice sheet.
  • Black carbon comes from diesel engines, industrial smokestacks and residential cooking and heating stoves. Most black carbon that falls in the Arctic comes from North America, Europe and Asia. Because black carbon air pollution is also a leading cause of respiratory illness and death, controlling emissions will save lives and improve health around the world. In India alone, black carbon-laden indoor smoke is responsible for over 400,000 premature deaths annually, mostly of women and children.

The U.S. and Europe must lead on this issue by committing to stricter standards at home for diesel engines and other sources of black carbon pollution, and by committing to increased financial and technological assistance to the developing world to reduce black carbon pollution from diesel, home cooking and heating and other sources.

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