One step at a time

A small measure of success was achieved recently in Kigali, Rwanda, where representatives of about 200 countries reached an agreement to curb the use of hydrofluorocarbons used now in the manufacturing of refrigerators and air conditioners.

When they escape in the atmosphere, HFCs are very powerful warming agents.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said the deal was “the single most important step we could take at this moment to limit the warming of our planet”.

It is calculated that HFCs that leak from air conditioners, alone, will raise the global average temperature by half a degree centigrade, a figure that might look unimpressive, but that could do much damage.

Air conditioners in particular are the generators of most of these warming gases; when viewed against the projection that there would be some 700 million air conditioners in use by 2030, or 1.6 billion by 2050, maybe the significance of the Kigali agreement can be better appreciated.

But the vicious circle is there: the warmer it gets, the more air conditioning units are required, the more HFCs are produced and the warmer it gets.

The Sustainable Development Goals that the international community has recently adopted as guideline for the future development of the international economies make the reduction in the use of green house gas emissions a vital step towards mitigating the global warming trend.

So as little as any measure taken appears, it might be the only way mankind can now use to address global warming and protect the environment, and, implicitly, our life on earth.

An over ambitious accord to phase out green house gas emissions may have been useless due to strong opposition from some developing countries, including India and China, whose economies still depend on the use of sources of energy that contribute heavily to global warming.

The one-step-at-a-time approach, as indeed was the case in Kigali, may hold the key for an eventual success in protecting our planet.

Meanwhile, scientists should come together to find innovative solutions that could help us enjoy a comfortable ambient without harming the atmosphere.