3 Matching Annotations
  1. Jul 2023
    1. If we magically transformed the global economy overnight, and air pollution fell to near zero, we’d
      • If we magically transformed the global economy overnight, and air pollution fell to near zero, we’d get:
        • an immediate rise in global temperatures of between 0.5 and 1.1 degrees Celsius, according to the new study.
          • (For reference: The climate has warmed about 1.2 degrees Celsius since the start of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century.)
        • The warming would be concentrated over the major cities of the northern hemisphere,
          • close to where most aerosols are emitted.
        • In the hardest hit parts of highly-urbanized East Asia, for example,
          • the complete removal of aerosols would likely have a bigger effect than all other sources of climate change combined.
        • Temperatures in the Arctic could jump as much as 4 degrees Celsius – a catastrophe that would shove the region further toward a permanently ice-free state.
    2. a devil’s bargain: Aerosols are necessary for normal weather and help moderate rising temperatures, but they’re also killing us. Turns out have been unwittingly geoengineering for decades, and just like in the movies, it’s gone off the rails.
      • Aerosol progress trap
        • a devil’s bargain:
        • Aerosols
          • are necessary for normal weather and
          • help moderate rising temperatures,
        • but they’re also killing us.
        • Turns out we have been unwittingly geoengineering for decades,
        • and just like in the movies, it’s gone off the rails.