Why companies are phasing out these super-pollutants despite Trump. (Washington Post)
There’s one big bright spot in the fight against climate change that most people never think about.
It could prevent nearly half a degree of global warming this century, a huge margin for a planet that has warmed almost 1.5 degrees Celsius and is struggling to keep that number below 2 degrees. In a moment when companies are walking back their climate pledges and the United States has quit almost every climate organization or treaty you could name, more than 170 countries — including the U.S. — have agreed to act on this one solution.
That solution: phasing out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a group of gases used in refrigerators, air conditioners and other cooling systems that heat the atmosphere more than almost any other pollutant on Earth. Pound for pound, HFCs are hundreds or even thousands of times better at trapping heat than carbon dioxide.
Companies are replacing HFCs with new gases that trap much less heat. If you buy a new fridge or AC unit in the United States today, it’ll probably use one of these new refrigerants — and you’re unlikely to notice the difference, according to Francis Dietz, a spokesperson for the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, a trade group representing U.S. HVAC manufacturers.
“If we do our jobs, consumers don’t feel anything at all,” Dietz said.
But that invisible transition is one of the most important short-term tactics to keep Earth’s climate from going catastrophically off-kilter this century. HFCs are powerful super-pollutants, but the most common ones break down in the atmosphere within about 15 years. That means stopping emissions from HFCs — and other short-lived super-pollutants such as methane — is like pulling an emergency brake on climate change.
“It’s really the fastest, easiest and, some would say, the only way to slow the rate of warming between now and 2050,” said Kiff Gallagher, executive director of the Global Heat Reduction Initiative, a business that advises companies and cities on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The only other solution that comes close to the speed and scale of slashing HFCs would be dimming the sun, a much more controversial and potentially dangerous option.
