THE world is starting to take note of its carbon footprint – and with good reason. Yet in the rush to cut carbon dioxide emissions, it is all too easy to forget about other pollutants whose contribution to global warming is just as worrying. Ozone smogs, acid rain and smoke were all targeted by environmentalists in the 1980s and 1990s for the local harm that they do. What is now becoming clear is that failure to tackle them could also upset the best-laid carbon schemes.
This week veteran Californian atmospheric chemist Veerabhadran Ramanathan published his most alarming conclusions yet about the…
