California’s efforts to clean up diesel engines have helped reduce impact of climate change on state, study finds « Berkeley Lab News Center
Berkeley Lab partners in study showing clean diesel programs slashed black carbon, a powerful short-term contributor to global warming
Reductions in emissions of black carbon since the late 1980s, mostly from diesel engines as a result of air quality programs, have resulted in a measurable reduction of concentrations of global warming pollutants in the atmosphere, according to a first-of-its-kind study examining the impact of black carbon on California’s climate.
The study, funded by the California Air Resources Board and led by Dr. Veerabhadran Ramanathan of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, estimates that reductions in black carbon as a result of clean air regulations were equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions in California by 21 million metric tons annually or taking more than 4 million cars off California roads every year.
