The impact of black carbon on Arctic climate
The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) established an Expert Group on Short-Lived Climate Forcers (SLCFs) in 2009 with the goal of reviewing the state of science surrounding SLCFs in the Arctic and recommending the science tasks that AMAP should conduct or promote to improve the state of knowledge and its application to policy-making. In addition, the Expert Group was charged with providing scientific advice regarding the assessment of Arctic climate benefits of the mitigation strategies investigated by the Task Force on SLCFs established by the Arctic Council. This document is a result of the work completed by the AMAP Expert Group on SLCFs. It focuses on black carbon (BC) but also considers the impact of co-emitted organic carbon (OC). The analyses are focused on Arctic impacts with the Arctic defined as all regions north of 60° N. This limited perspective is not meant to downplay the importance of the other SLCFs, including methane (CH4) and ozone (O3), but reflects the limited time line provided by AMAP and the expertise of the membership of the Expert Group. Future efforts that detail impacts of CH4 and O3 on Arctic climate are recommended.
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