Norwegian scientists confirm that transport is responsible for climate change

Although it might not be a surprising revelation, some investigators in the Center for Development and Environment Research at the University of Oslo have published a report that quantifies and specifies what's the real effect of development and the environment. According to this report, transportation is responsible for 15 to 30 percent of the CO₂ and O₃ (ozone) that has been released to the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution. The report considers these two gases as the most harmful and responsible from the greenhouse effect, and they both come out from tailpipes.
As our readers know, CO₂ is the result of the combustion of any hydrocarbon. Ozone is what they call a "secondary pollutant", which is released to the atmosphere as a consequence of reactions where nitrogen oxydes (NOx) are involved. NOx are released with diesel fumes. The current Kyoto Protocol does not include any reference to NOx or CO (carbon monoxide).

The report points directly at road transport as the most important contributor since the end of the 19th Century, followed by air transport. Other means, such as railways, have reduced their impact in recent years. Remarkably, the report also finds that maritime transport might "cool" the planet in the medium term because of its emissions of SO₄ and CO, which might reflect solar radiation.

[Source: ABC via Madrimasd]