File:Short Term Impact.png

English: Specific activities often emit a slew of different gases or aerosols which persist in the atmosphere for varying amounts of time. For example, land transportation emits both carbon dioxide, a warming GHG that stays in the atmosphere for ~100 years, and nitrogen oxides, which are cooling gases that stay in the atmosphere for only a few days. This makes it more complicated to determine the net effect that the activity has on the temperature of the atmosphere in the short-term. In this figure, the left side in blue indicates the estimated amount of cooling that is caused by the emissions from the activity after 10 years. The right side in red indicates the estimated amount of warming. Some activities, like energy production, have emissions which balance eachother out and don’t cause a distinct change in temperature, but others, like agriculture, cause a clear warming or cooling in the short-term.