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Attribution of climate forcing to economic sectors.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Unger, N; Bond, TC; Wang, JS; Koch, DM; Menon, S; Shindell, DT; Bauer, S
Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
February 2010

A much-cited bar chart provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change displays the climate impact, as expressed by radiative forcing in watts per meter squared, of individual chemical species. The organization of the chart reflects the history of atmospheric chemistry, in which investigators typically focused on a single species of interest. However, changes in pollutant emissions and concentrations are a symptom, not a cause, of the primary driver of anthropogenic climate change: human activity. In this paper, we suggest organizing the bar chart according to drivers of change-that is, by economic sector. Climate impacts of tropospheric ozone, fine aerosols, aerosol-cloud interactions, methane, and long-lived greenhouse gases are considered. We quantify the future evolution of the total radiative forcing due to perpetual constant year 2000 emissions by sector, most relevant for the development of climate policy now, and focus on two specific time points, near-term at 2020 and long-term at 2100. Because sector profiles differ greatly, this approach fosters the development of smart climate policy and is useful to identify effective opportunities for rapid mitigation of anthropogenic radiative forcing.

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Published In

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI

EISSN

1091-6490

ISSN

0027-8424

Publication Date

February 2010

Volume

107

Issue

8

Start / End Page

3382 / 3387

Related Subject Headings

  • Policy Making
  • Industry
  • Humans
  • Environmental Pollution
  • Environment
  • Climate Change
  • Atmosphere
 

Citation

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Unger, N., Bond, T. C., Wang, J. S., Koch, D. M., Menon, S., Shindell, D. T., & Bauer, S. (2010). Attribution of climate forcing to economic sectors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107(8), 3382–3387. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0906548107
Unger, Nadine, Tami C. Bond, James S. Wang, Dorothy M. Koch, Surabi Menon, Drew T. Shindell, and Susanne Bauer. “Attribution of climate forcing to economic sectors.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107, no. 8 (February 2010): 3382–87. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0906548107.
Unger N, Bond TC, Wang JS, Koch DM, Menon S, Shindell DT, et al. Attribution of climate forcing to economic sectors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2010 Feb;107(8):3382–7.
Unger, Nadine, et al. “Attribution of climate forcing to economic sectors.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 107, no. 8, Feb. 2010, pp. 3382–87. Epmc, doi:10.1073/pnas.0906548107.
Unger N, Bond TC, Wang JS, Koch DM, Menon S, Shindell DT, Bauer S. Attribution of climate forcing to economic sectors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2010 Feb;107(8):3382–3387.
Journal cover image

Published In

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI

EISSN

1091-6490

ISSN

0027-8424

Publication Date

February 2010

Volume

107

Issue

8

Start / End Page

3382 / 3387

Related Subject Headings

  • Policy Making
  • Industry
  • Humans
  • Environmental Pollution
  • Environment
  • Climate Change
  • Atmosphere