Black carbon in the atmosphere is an issue of concern but it can't be linked to melting of
glaciers or global warming, India's leading climate expert R K Pachauri Monday said, dismissing fears that soot produced from
biomass or fuel burning is as harmful as greenhouse gases.
"As black carbon remains an issue of concern, the Intergovernmental Penal on Climate Change (IPCC) will be carrying out a detailed study on its impact on glaciers and climate change in the fifth assessment report to be released in 2013," Pachauri said.
The chairman of the Nobel-award winning IPCC said the work (to study the impact of the soot) is still in progress and "till then, I don't think that we can jump to any conclusion."
Western climate experts have stressed on the need for bringing the issue of black carbon for discussion at the Copenhagen meet on climate change next month to put pressure on developing nations like India and China where fossil fuel
forms major component of energy production.
"There is a lot more work that is needed to be done in the subject (black carbon). I think once we are in the position to come up with a very clear finding then we can talk about it. At the moment it is an issue of concern but that's
all I can say," he said.
Prominent scientists V Ramanathan and Greg Carmichael in their recent studies claimed that soot and other forms of black carbon could contribute to as much as 60 per cent of the
current global warming effect of carbon dioxide, more than that of any GHGs besides CO2.
Referring to the studies on soot, Pauchari felt that an individual report by one or two scientists cannot become the basis of any phenomenon.
"It takes a lot of time to really carry out a thorough analysis, after a peer review and that is why the IPCC reports have reached a certain level of credibility because of the process that we follow," Pachauri said.
The report is not just by one individual. It is based on very balanced scientific evidence that we arrive at the conclusions," he said while welcoming the government's move to conduct study on impact of soot on glaciers.
The IPCC is the world's leading body for assessing climate change and in its fourth assessment report in 2007, it warned countries to take appropriate steps to arrest carbon emissions causing global warming.
It had attributed the receding and thinning of
Himalayan glaciers primarily to global warming.