Cleaner Shipping Fuel Accelerated Global Warming: Study
By Nick PERRY, with Antoine AGASSE in Brest
May 30, 2024
An international effort to improve air quality by requiring ships to use less-polluting fuel caused a spike in global warming, according to research published Thursday on this unintended climate "shock".
Global shipping's switch to low-sulphur fuels starting in 2020 "could lead to a doubling (or more) of the warming rate" this decade and has already contributed to record-breaking heat over the past year, the study said.
That is because the tiny particles in sulphur pollution reflect and absorb sunlight and make clouds more mirror-like, creating a temporary cooling effect on the planet.
Scientists had anticipated that switching to the cleaner fuels would reduce this reflecting effect and accelerate warming, even if they debated by how much.
The study suggests that deliberately brightening clouds could put a brake on global warming, even if such measures do not address the underlying driver: pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
https://www.barrons.com/news/cleaner-shipping-fuel-accelerated-global-warming-study-322f4a0f
