Oceans’ Short-Lived Halogens Contribute 8-10% Cooling

Oceans’ Short-Lived Halogens Contribute 8-10% Cooling

• Oceans play a crucial role in regulating the Earth’s climate beyond absorbing carbon dioxide. A recent study has revealed that oceans release short-lived halogens, such as chlorine, bromine, and iodine, which contribute significantly to cooling the planet.
• Currently, short-lived halogens contribute 8-10% to the planet’s cooling. However, projections indicate that their cooling potential could increase to 18-31% by 2100. Surprisingly, climate models typically do not account for the significant influence of these halogens, but the study emphasizes that their impact cannot be ignored.
• Despite the warming effects caused by short-lived halogens on methane, water vapor, and aerosols, they compensate for this by destroying ozone, which exerts a cooling effect. The net cooling effect of short-lived halogens is estimated to be -0.13 ± 0.03 W m−2. Projections show that halogen emissions have increased by 61% since the preindustrial era due to the anthropogenic amplification of natural halogen emissions.

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Published date : 01 Jul 2023 06:03PM