SACRAMENTO – (INT) – Battling climate change is taking on a heightened sense of urgency in California.

The State Air Resources Board (ARB) is targeting so-called ‘super pollutants’. They are a category of pollutants which remain in the atmosphere for a relatively brief period, but have global warming potentials that are much higher than those of carbon dioxide. They account for an estimated 40 percent of global warming, increasing the impacts of climate change.

Specifically, they include methane, black carbon (soot) and hydrofluorocarbons which are used as refrigerants, aerosol propellants and insulation.

The major sources of methane in California are livestock, followed by landfills and oil and gas production. Methane is 72 times more efficient at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide which is the most prevalent global warming gas. CO2 remains in the atmosphere for up to a century. Methane and the other ‘super pollutants’ have much shorter lives, but do disproportionate damage.

A draft strategy to reduce ‘super pollutants’ comes back before the ARB in March.

Story Date: December 6, 2016