Black carbon emissions underestimated in Global South

Black carbon, the sooty byproduct of incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, has emerged as a major contributor to climate change and human health impacts. At SPARTAN, Yuxuan Ren and colleagues focused on black carbon concentrations in the air in the Global South, a loosely defined group of developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The researchers found black carbon concentrations in low- and middle-income areas across the Global South to be underestimated by about 38%.

The results were published on July 31, 2025, in Nature Communications.

We invite you to read the report from the McKelvey Engineering School at WashU to learn more:

Black carbon emissions underestimated in Global South