70 Document 3:3 2014–2015 Report
5.1.2 Emissions that affect the climate in the Arctic: greenhouse gases and short- lived climate forcers
Greenhouse gases
There are clear indications that there is a correlation between warm periods and high levels of carbon dioxide CO
2
in the atmosphere, cf. the white paper Meld. St. 21 2011–2012. Emissions of methane, nitrous oxide and three groups of luorinated
gases
127
also contribute to global warming. The efect of these gases is independent of where the emissions take place.
128
The Arctic countries account for a substantial part of the total global emissions of greenhouse gases – about 23 per cent.
129
By comparison, less than eight per cent of the world’s total population lives in the Arctic states.
Short-lived climate forcers
Air pollution
130
can also afect the climate, cf. the white paper Meld. St. 21 2011–2012, in that some pollutants contribute to increased warming of the atmo-
sphere, while the emissions of other pollutants contribute to cooling. The gases that are the source of such air pollution, are often referred to as short-lived climate forcers.
Like, for example, CO
2
, short-lived climate forcers afect the climate, but while CO
2
has a very long lifetime in the atmosphere, short-lived climate forcers have an atmospheric lifetime of between one week and ten years.
131
Recent research suggests that short-lived climate forcers, particularly soot ine particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels or biomass,
are responsible for a signiicant portion of the temperature increase in the Arctic over the past ten years and is the cause of much of the deglaciation in the Arctic.
132
The Arctic states are signiicant sources of emissions of soot.
133
5.1.3 The Arctic Council and the climate challenges in the Arctic
Climate has become an increasingly important issue for the Arctic Council. The focus has been on technical fact inding work, international cooperation on climate change
through the United Nations and advice and recommendations to member states on mea- sures to limit greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the efects of climate change.
Several of the Arctic Council working groups deal with climate change in the Arctic. Particularly the AMAP Working Group, which has monitoring climate change as one of
its three main work areas,
134
has published several studies on the topic. AMAP was working on climate issues even before the Arctic Council was established cf. AEPS.
Other working groups that work on Arctic climate issues are CAFF, ACAP and SDWG. ACIA is the irst major report on climate in the Arctic, and it is being cited as a key
element in the Arctic Council’s contribution to climate work.
135
Published in 2004,
127 Perluorocarbons, hydroluorocarbons and sulphur hexaluoride. 128 Carbon dioxide CO
2
, methane CH
4
, nitrous oxide N
2
O, perluorocarbons PFCs, hydroluorocarbons HFCs and sulphur hexaluoride SF
6
. 129 UNFCCC 2012 National greenhouse gas inventory data for the period 1990–2010 and World Resources Institute,
http:cait2.wri.org [retrieval date 13 September 2013]. Based in the US, the World Resources Institute is an independent, globally respected institute that collects and analyses global greenhouse gas emissions.
130 For example, ozone, nitrogen dioxides NOx, NMVOCs which are volatile organic compounds except methane, where the signiicant emission sources include solvents, petrol, and oil and gas production, carbon monoxide CO and
sulphur dioxide SO
2
. 131 Norwegian Institute for Air Research. Short-lived climate forcers. www.nilu.no [retrieval date 12 September 2013].
Tropospheric aerosols, such as soot, have a lifetime of one week, and methane has a lifetime of approximately 10 years. 132 Norwegian Polar Institute, Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Short-lived climate forces, www.nilu.no 2013.
133 Effects of black carbon on the Arctic climate, AMAP, 2011. 134 Interview with AMAP on 13 June 2013.
135 Several respondents, Norwegian and foreign, and secondary literature cite the signiicance of ACIA.
