October 29, 2009

expert comments on new research into climate forcing emissions, as published in Science

The paper, from scientists at the Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, concluded that the effects of methane of global warming may have been significantly underestimated, and could contribute much more to the rise in global temperatures than previously thought.

Dr Chris Huntingford, of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, said:

“This is an excellent analysis demonstrating that methane emissions have the potential to add more future warming than hereto realised. This new research complements the well-established result that carbon dioxide emissions have been responsible for a large fraction of the global warming observed since pre-industrial times.

“There is a requirement to distil this more complete understanding of how the many different atmospheric gases interact, both between themselves and with humans. Policy decisions must account for such interactions and links to emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and atmospheric aerosols.”