A study finds disparities between developed and developing countries in contribution to global radiative forcing. Radiative forcing describes the net change in the flux of heat radiation due to external forces, and understanding relative contributions of countries to Earth's radiative forcing is important in developing climate change mitigation strategies. Bengang Li and colleagues used a compact Earth system model to quantify the relative contributions of each nation to global radiative forcing. The authors found that, as of 2014, the top three contributors to global radiative forcing were the United States, at around 21.9%, the first 15 European Union members at around 13.7%, and China at 8.6%. Greenhouse gas emissions, which result in a positive radiative forcing, are the dominant contributors in developed countries, whereas in developing countries other dominant contributors are short-lived climate forcers such as aerosols, which result in a negative radiative forcing. The negative forcing from aerosols in developing countries masks the positive forcing from greenhouse gases, suggesting that as developing countries take measures to improve air quality, the negative forcing will diminish and greenhouse gas-driven positive forcing will become prominent. According to the authors, the results underscore the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in concert with improving air quality.
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Article #20-18211:
"The contributions of individual countries and regions to the global radiative forcing," by Bo Fu, Bengang Li, et al.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Bengang Li,
Peking University, Beijing, CHINA;
tel: +86-13601087832;
email: <libengang@pku.edu.cn>