Carbon Emissions Exceed Highest Assumptions Used in Climate Change Studies



Peter N. Spotts, Christian Science Monitor, Posted on Alternet.



Global emissions of carbon dioxide are growing at a faster clip than the highest rates used in recent key UN reports.



CO2 emissions from cars, factories, and power plants grew at an annual rate of 1.1 percent during the 1990s, according to the Global Carbon Project, which is a data clearinghouse set up in 2001 as a cooperative effort among UN-related groups and other scientific organizations. But from 2000 to 2004, CO2 emissions rates almost tripled to 3 percent a year - higher than any rate used in emissions scenarios for the reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).



If the higher rate represents more than a blip, stabilizing emissions by 2100 will be more difficult than the latest UN reports indicate, some analysts say. And to avoid the most serious effects of global warming, significant cuts in CO2 emissions must begin sooner than the IPCC reports suggest. At the moment, no region of the world is "decarbonizing its energy supply," the analysis says.



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Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi I am sorry for sticking this on like that but I am calling all environmentally aware people to support the Caribbean initiative against whale hunting. Every voice counts. Please read and digg this

http://digg.com/political_opinion/Save_The_Whales_3

--

Thank you.

Jonny Cigar
1:54 PM
Anonymous said…
There are so many large contributors to carbon dioxide emissions. I am an environmental consultant, and about five years ago my company got into the business of designing, building and managing landfills. We did this specifically because landfills are huge emitters of greenhouse gases and outside of the US and Europe there are very few landfills that have environmental controls. They not only pollute the air, but leachate seeps to the groundwater too. Now my company is getting into waste elimination systems, that turn municipal waste into energy. The emissions are very low compared to other waste practices and there is the added benefit of electricity produce from a renewable source. There are things that we can do about global warming, but it is a multi-pronged approach.
12:00 AM
ramsay adams said…
The first land based "keeper" organization has launched based on the succesful model of the Hudson Riverkeeper - http://www.riverkeeper.org
The Catskill Mountainkeeper - http://www.catskillmountainkeeper.org group is focused on protecting the Catskill region in New York State and hopes that in its success other Mountainkeeper groups can be formed to help protect sensitive mountain regions. Do I hear White Mountainkeeper?
Ramsay Adams
Executive Director
Catskill Mountainkeeper
ramsayATcatskillmountainkeeper.org
6:27 PM
Anonymous said…
Hye everyone. I wanted to let everyone know about this capaign in Washington DC called the Cool Capital Challenge. It is the first of its kind in that it is trying to reduce the carbon emissions in Washington DC by 1 billion pounds. They take pledges from people who promise to lower their carbon footprint.
Check out the website and spread the word this is a great model to spread around the world.
www.coolcapital.org
12:20 PM
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