SOOT is a thoroughly ticklish subject. When it gets up your nose, it’s bad for your health. And when it gets into the atmosphere, it’s a source of some scientific and political dispute.
Recent research by respectable scientists in peer-reviewed journals (an essential caveat when it comes to the topic of global warming) suggests that soot’s effect on the atmosphere may be greater than anyone realised. Mark Jacobson of Stanford University is well versed in the subject and now suggests that soot from a diesel car warms the atmosphere as much as a gasoline-powered car, mile for mile (Journal of…
