IMO progress on black carbon in Arctic ‘welcome but long overdue’

The IMO would then focus on measures to reduce black carbon. The deposition of black carbon from ships and other sources on ice and snow in the Arctic accelerates ice melting by reducing the albedo effect – the ability to reflect sunlight back into space. The IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) is set to agree in May on a definition – reached in 2013 by Dr Tami Bond and a group of 29 eminent scientists from international institutes – which identifies its four major characteristics.