More than half of the warming effect from human-caused emissions is due to carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 lingers in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, generating a continuous climate impact that would sustain present warming levels even if new emissions stopped. As a result, everyone knows that reducing CO2 is essential; however, it won't be enough to reverse or delay climate change in the coming decades. 

Due to the urgency of our impending climate disaster, swift mitigation strategies that deliver greater short-term benefits than CO2 reductions alone are gaining favor. These solutions include reducing short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), which are responsible for almost half of global warming but have atmospheric lives of less than 20 years. This article will outline the part each of the four major SLCPs plays in the global warming puzzle.