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Not always. Sometimes it is salty.

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Right now there are lots of articles that talk about how our governement should negogiate at the climate conference in copenhagen. what has been described as the likely great defining cause, is for the developed countries to agree on a new international regime to fight climate and the only sustainable global growth path as one to transform their economies to low carbon. We should send a committed team for the UN Copenhagen climate conference in December this year to press for an equitable and favourable deal for the country and the region.

Black carbon: Black carbon is formed through the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, biofuel, and biomass, and is emitted in both anthropogenic and naturally occurring soot. Black carbon warms the planet by absorbing heat in the atmosphere and by reducing albedo, the ability to reflect sunlight, when deposited on snow and ice. Black carbon stays in the atmosphere for only several days to weeks, whereas CO2 has an atmospheric lifetime of more than 100 years. Because black carbon remains in the atmosphere only for a few weeks, reducing black carbon emissions may be the fastest means of slowing climate change in the near-term.

Today, the majority of black carbon emissions are from developing countries and this trend is expected to increase. The largest sources of black carbon are Asia, Latin America, and Africa.China and India account for 25-35% of global black carbon emissions. Black carbon emissions from China doubled from 2000 to 2006.Existing and well-tested technologies used by developed countries, such as clean diesel and clean coal, could be transferred to developing countries to reduce their emissions.

Black carbon emissions “peak close to major source regions and give rise to regional hotspots of black carbon—induced atmospheric solar heating.” Such hotspots include “the Indo-Gangetic plains in South Asia; eastern China; most of Southeast Asia including Indonesia; regions of Africa between sub-Sahara and South Africa; Mexico and Central America; and most of Brazil and Peru in South America.” . Approximately three billion people live in these hotspots.

Approximately 20% of black carbon is emitted from burning biofuels, 40% from fossil fuels, and 40% from open biomass burning.

42% Open biomass burning (forest and savanna burning)

18% Residential biofuel burned with traditional technologies

14% Diesel engines for transportation

10% Diesel engines for industrial use

10% Industrial processes and power generation, usually from smaller boilers

6% Residential coal burned with traditional technologies[57]

Deforestation: Deforestation plays a huge role in climate change - up to one-fifth of global emissions come from forest destruction.

The government has said climate change is poised to undermine national efforts to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and put overall poverty reduction efforts in jeopardy.

In the picture you see Dr Batilda Buriani, the Minister of State in the Vice President's Office (Environment).

According to the her the national economy is highly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change and extreme weather events which are already vivid. Buriani said several current droughts in the past few years have triggered the recent devastating power crisis.

She said recent temperature measurements from 21 meteorological stations in the country have shown a steady increase in temperature for the past 30 years.

”Due to the increasing temperatures, the adverse impacts are now felt in all sectors of the economy, and are threatening human life,” she added.

The extreme drop of water levels in Lake Victoria among others in recent years, and the most dramatic receding of Lake Rukwa in about 50 years, are associated at least in part with climate change, the minister explained.

Dr Buriani called for appropriate plans, programmes and community adaptation strategies at both local and national level in order to reduce the negative impacts of climate change.

She asserted that while Tanzania’s contribution to greenhouse gas emission is negligible in global terms, the government considers the new ’Reduced Emissions for Deforestation and Forest Degradation’ initiative as a viable option that can allow the country to manage its forests and woodlands on a sustainable basis.

Forests cover around 30 per cent of the Earths total land surface (nearly 4 billion hectares). Experts say forests provide valuable ecosystem services and goods, serve as a habitat for a wide range of flora and fauna, and hold a significant standing stock of global carbon.

Deforestation, mainly conversion of forests for agriculture activities, has been estimated at an alarming rate of 13 million hectares per year in the period 1990-2005. Deforestation results in immediate release of carbon stored in trees as CO2 emissions.

It is estimated that deforestation contributed globally to approximately 20 per cent of annual greenhouse gas emissions in the 1990s.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its fourth assessment report, reducing and/or preventing deforestation is the mitigation option with the largest and most immediate carbon stock impact in the short term