This just arrived in my inbox via an e-mail newsletter. Wasn't aware of NASA report.
"NASA study analyzes the main contributors to climate change
A new study by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) has concluded that motor vehicles are the greatest net contributor to global warming.
Rather than analyzing impacts by chemical species, the study based its findings on a climate model, which was used to estimate the impact of 13 sectors of the economy. The unique portfolio of pollutants, greenhouse gases and aerosols released by cars, buses and trucks was found to contribute the most to climate change.
This new analysis provides urban planners with a greater understanding of how to more effectively target emissions reductions. While emissions from the power, biomass burning and industrial sectors of the economy promote aerosol-cloud interactions that exert a powerful cooling effect, on-road transportation and household biofuels exacerbate cloud-related warming.
"Targeting on-road transportation is a win-win-win," said Nadine Unger, who led the study. "It's good for the climate in the short term and long term, and it's good for our health."
With so few commuters (less than 5% in the US, less than 20% in Europe) using public transit and the vast majority of all transport journeys occurring in cars (82.1% in the EU, 85% in the US), there is a clear need to improve the efficiency of passenger transportation by making it easier to fill up the vast amounts of empty seats that travel our roads every day."
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