The Short-Term Cooling but Long-Term Global Warming Due to Biomass Burning

C 3 H 6 ) and aerosol particle components (e.g., black carbon, organic matter, K ϩ , Na ϩ , Ca 2ϩ , Mg 2ϩ , H ϩ , Cl Ϫ , H 2 SO 4 , ,).To date, the global-scale climate response of controlling emission of these constituents together has not Ϫ NO 3 been examined.Here 10-yr global simulations of the climate response of biomass-burning aerosols and shortlived gases are coupled with numerical calculations of the long-term effect of controlling biomass-burning CO 2 and CH 4 to estimate the net effect of controlling burning over 100 yr.Whereas eliminating biomass-burning particles is calculated to warm temperatures in the short term, this warming may be more than offset after several decades by cooling due to eliminating long-lived CO 2 , particularly from permanent deforestation.It is also shown analytically that biomass burning always results in CO 2 accumulation, even when regrowth fluxes equal emission fluxes and in the presence of fertilization.Further, because burning grassland and cropland yearly, as opposed to every several years, increases CO 2 , biofuel burning, considered a ''renewable'' energy source, is only partially renewable, and biomass burning elevates CO 2 until it is stopped.Because CO 2 from biomass burning is considered recyclable and biomass particles are thought to cool climate, the Kyoto Protocol did not consider biomass-burning controls.If the results here, which apply to a range of scenarios but are subject to uncertainty, are correct, such control may slow global warming, contrary to common perception, and improve human health.