Countries came to an agreement in Kigali on Saturday to phase out a family of potent greenhouse gases by the late 2040s and move to prevent a potential 0.5 degree Celsius rise in global temperature by the end of the century.

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are a family of greenhouse gases that are largely used in refrigerants in home and car air-conditioners. They are currently the world’s fastest growing greenhouse gases, with emissions increasing by up to 10 per cent each year. They are one of the most powerful, trapping thousands of times more heat in the Earth’s atmosphere than carbon dioxide (CO2).

In all, 197 countries, including India, China and the United States, agreed on Saturday to a timeline to reduce the use of HFCs by roughly 85 per cent of their baselines by 2045.....................Read more

Source: The Hindu