Black carbon (BC) aerosols constitute unique and important anthropogenic climate forcers that potentially accelerate the retreat of glaciers over the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau (HTP). Here we show that a large amount of BC emissions produced in India and China-a region of BC emissions to which the HTP is more vulnerable compared with other regions- are related to the consumption of goods and services in the USA and Europe through international trade. These processes lead to a virtual transport pathway of BC from distant regions to the HTP glaciers. From a consumption perspective, the contribution from India to the HTP glaciers shows a rapid increasing trend while the contributions from the USA, Europe, and China decreased over the last decade. International trade aggravates the BC pollution over the HTP glaciers and may cause significant climate change there. Global efforts toward reducing the cascading of BC emissions to Asia, especially the Indian subcontinent, are urgently needed.
1.Peking Univ, Coll Urban & Environm Sci, Lab Earth Surface Proc, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China 2.UCL, Bartlett Sch Construct & Project Management, London WC1E 7HB, England 3.Natl Ctr Atmospher Res, Boulder, CO 80301 USA 4.Univ Colorado, Dept Mech Engn, Boulder, CO 80309 USA 5.Univ East Anglia, Water Secur Res Ctr, Sch Int Dev, Norwich NR4 7TJ, Norfolk, England 6.Tsinghua Univ, Key Lab Earth Syst Modeling, Minist Educ, Dept Earth Syst Sci, Beijing 100084, Peoples R China 7.Peking Univ, Sch Phys, Dept Atmospher & Ocean Sci, Lab Climate & Ocean Atmosphere Sci, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China 8.Chinese Acad Meteorol Sci, Beijing 100081, Peoples R China
Recommended Citation:
Yi, Kan,Meng, Jing,Yang, Haozhe,et al. The cascade of global trade to large climate forcing over the Tibetan Plateau glaciers[J]. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS,2019-01-01,10