<p>CO2 isn’t the only thing warming our planet. Black soot is the <a id="nvt-" title="second biggest" href="http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/3/24/03319/6577/">second biggest</a> cause of global warming according to new research published in Nature Geoscience. It’s not exactly a new finding, though. James E. Hansen, the director of NASA’s Goddard Institute, <a id="mcm7" title="was talking about this" href="http://coolaqua.blogs.com/coolaqua/2008/03/hansen-clinton.html">was</a> talking about this during the Clinton administration. Or at least <a id="u9lw" title="he tried to" href="http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/censoring-climate">he tried to</a>; the Clinton administration wasn’t too keen on raising awareness about non-CO2 factors.<br />

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Soot <a id="lkz0" title="causes" href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080323210225.htm">causes</a> about 60 percent of the global warming effects that CO2 does. The recognition that soot is a big contributor to climate change is significant because we already have the technology to reduce soot. Rapid soot reductions could achieve big short-term gains in battling climate change. Whereas CO2 lingers in the atmosphere for years, soot particles only stay for about a week.<br />

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Black soot is also a public health hazard, as <a id="n0jf" title="an estimated 400,000 people" href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/reducing-soot-could-help-slow-climate-change/2008/03/24/1206207010432.html">an estimated 400,000 people</a> die each year from inhaling it.<br />

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The coal and oil industries are big soot producers. Wood and dung stoves in developing countries generate soot on a smaller scale.</p>