Nature & Environment
Global Carbon Emissions to Reach Startling Record of 36 Billion Tons in 2013
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Nov 20, 2013 08:56 AM EST
It looks as if we're not out of the woods yet when it comes to global carbon emissions. Scientists have predicted that emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels are set to rise again in 2013, reaching a record high of 36 billion tons. This spells bad news for the future of climate change and global warming.
In order to assess the trend of rising carbon emissions, researchers assembled the Global Carbon Budget report. This particular report revealed that the biggest contributors to fossil fuel emissions in 2012 were China at 27 percent, the United States at 14 percent, the European Union at 10 percent and India at 6 percent. The projected rise for 2013 actually comes after a similar rise of 2.2 percent in 2012.
"Governments meeting in Warsaw this week need to agree on how to reverse this trend," said Corinne Le Quere, one of the researchers who led the Global Carbon Budget report, in a news release. "Emissions must fall substantially and rapidly if we are to limit global climate change to below two degrees. Additional emissions every year cause further warming and climate change."
That doesn't mean that it's all bad news. The rise in fossil fuel emissions in 2012 and 2013 was slower compared to the average 2.7 percent of the past 10 years. The United States' emissions actually declined by 3.7 percent and Europe declined by 1.8 percent. However, growth rates in CO2 increased by 5.9 percent in China and 7.7 percent in India.
It's not just the report that's been released, though. Alongside the latest Carbon Budget is the Carbon Atlas, a new online platform that shows the world's biggest carbon emitters more clearly than ever before.
"We are communicating new science," said Le Quere in a news release. "Everyone can explore their own emissions and compare them with their neighboring countries--past, present and future."
The findings reveal how crucial it is to curtail these emissions. As our climate continues to change due to greenhouse gas emissions, it's important to find ways to prevent further CO2 from entering the atmosphere.
"We have exhausted about 70 percent of the cumulative emissions that keep global climate change likely below two degrees," said Pierre Friedlingstein from the University of Exeter in a news release. "In terms of CO2 emissions, we are following the highest climate change scenario of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released in September."
Want to check out the new Global Carbon Atlas? You can learn more about it here.
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First Posted: Nov 20, 2013 08:56 AM EST
It looks as if we're not out of the woods yet when it comes to global carbon emissions. Scientists have predicted that emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels are set to rise again in 2013, reaching a record high of 36 billion tons. This spells bad news for the future of climate change and global warming.
In order to assess the trend of rising carbon emissions, researchers assembled the Global Carbon Budget report. This particular report revealed that the biggest contributors to fossil fuel emissions in 2012 were China at 27 percent, the United States at 14 percent, the European Union at 10 percent and India at 6 percent. The projected rise for 2013 actually comes after a similar rise of 2.2 percent in 2012.
"Governments meeting in Warsaw this week need to agree on how to reverse this trend," said Corinne Le Quere, one of the researchers who led the Global Carbon Budget report, in a news release. "Emissions must fall substantially and rapidly if we are to limit global climate change to below two degrees. Additional emissions every year cause further warming and climate change."
That doesn't mean that it's all bad news. The rise in fossil fuel emissions in 2012 and 2013 was slower compared to the average 2.7 percent of the past 10 years. The United States' emissions actually declined by 3.7 percent and Europe declined by 1.8 percent. However, growth rates in CO2 increased by 5.9 percent in China and 7.7 percent in India.
It's not just the report that's been released, though. Alongside the latest Carbon Budget is the Carbon Atlas, a new online platform that shows the world's biggest carbon emitters more clearly than ever before.
"We are communicating new science," said Le Quere in a news release. "Everyone can explore their own emissions and compare them with their neighboring countries--past, present and future."
The findings reveal how crucial it is to curtail these emissions. As our climate continues to change due to greenhouse gas emissions, it's important to find ways to prevent further CO2 from entering the atmosphere.
"We have exhausted about 70 percent of the cumulative emissions that keep global climate change likely below two degrees," said Pierre Friedlingstein from the University of Exeter in a news release. "In terms of CO2 emissions, we are following the highest climate change scenario of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released in September."
Want to check out the new Global Carbon Atlas? You can learn more about it here.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone