The Political Environment: Soot A Major Climate Change Cause: Study

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Rick Chamberlin said...: Thanks for posting this, James. Our state legislators should be looking seriously at ways to curb Wisconsin's soot output. Not only does a lot of that soot in the atmosphere originate here, but much of it settles on Wisconsin lakes (including the Great Lakes), reducing their albedo and speeding up the melting. Since the 50s we've been losing 1 week of ice cover on our lakes every decade, and that rate is increasing, according to the UW-Seagrant Institute. We need to shutter or convert our coal plants ASAP and pass legislation that further reduces particulate pollution from all sectors of our economy. The Stanford study shows that such reducing black and brown carbon in the atmosphere could save us millions if not billions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions in the future.; August 2, 2010 at 5:10 PM