There are 10s/100s of pollutants. Hydrocarbons, VOCs, free radicals, dust, smog, microplastics, and more. Why are only CO2 emissions so universally used as a metric for climate targets? Surely measuring just the greenhouse effect isn’t sufficient as an indicator of overall climate health.
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Microplastics and similar pollutants don’t have an effect on the climate. They’re dangerous for life on earth in different ways, but dumping a bunch of plastic into the sea won’t cause climate change.
Dust and smog affect only a localized area, they’re not constant and not global.
CO2 is used as the base because it’s by far the most plentiful greenhouse gas and because a lot of other pollutants eventually decompose into it.
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