(MENAFN- AzerNews) shipping fuel regulations introduced in 2020 have led to asubstantial cut in sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution, but may alsohave made the ocean warmer by reducing cloud cover, according to amodelling study in a paper published late on Thursday, Azernews reports.
International Maritime Organization (IMO) rules to tackle marinepollution forced shippers to cut their fuel sulfur content to 0.5percent from 3.5 percent, leading to an 80 percent decline in SO2emissions, according to a research team led by Tianle Yuan at theUniversity of Maryland, according to Al Arabiya.
SO2, however, besides being a major pollutant, also masks globalwarming by forming aerosols that thicken and brighten clouds,reflecting the sun's rays back into space.
IMO fuel standards could have been responsible for 80 percent ofthe planet's total net heat uptake since 2020, with the impactparticularly pronounced in busy shipping lanes, the researchersestimated in the paper published by the Communications Earth &Environment journal.
Climate scientists identified the reduction of SO2 as apotential contributor to record ocean temperatures last year. Somealso suggest cuts in air pollution around the world could haveaccelerated global warming.
“This cooling effect (of SO2) is well understood - anddocumented episodes have occurred as consequences of several majorvolcanic eruptions emitting SO2 during the past 2,000 years,” saidStuart Haszeldine, director of the Edinburgh Climate ChangeInstitute at the University of Edinburgh.
Haszeldine, who was not involved in the paper, said while it wasdifficult to make exact predictions about the impact on globaltemperatures, the trend was“very clear, extremely worrying andvery significant.”
Other scientists said the research might exaggerate the impactof the IMO fuel policy.
“Research into why recent temperatures have been so high isongoing and the reduced sulfur content in ship fuel is only onecontributing factor,” said Joel Hirschi at Britain's NationalOceanography Centre.
The authors said their research showed that“marine cloudbrightening” could become a potential geoengineering solution toglobal warming.
Scientists have been looking into ways to reflect heat back intospace, but proposals to inject SO2 into the atmosphere have beencontroversial. Other experiments have also been conducted to sprayseawater into the air to thicken clouds.
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