CO2 Gas Emissions to Reach Record High 40 Billion Tons in 2014

It turns out that carbon dioxide emissions may be rising to new heights. Scientists have found that the main contributor to global warming is set to rise to a record 40 billion tons in 2014.

The findings come from the Global Carbon Project, which tracks CO2 emissions and projects future emissions. This latest annual update of the Global Carbon Budget shows that total future CO2 emissions cannot exceed 1,200 billion tons in order to wind up with a 66 percent chance of keeping average global warming under 2 degrees Celsius. Yet it seems like this goal may not be achievable.

"The human influence on climate change is clear," said Corinne Le Quere, Director of the Tyndall Center at UEA, in a news release. "We need substantial and sustained reductions in CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels if we are to limit global climate change. We are nowhere near the commitments necessary to stay between 2 degrees Celsius of climate change, a level that will be already challenging to manage for most countries around the world, even for rich nations."

The annual Global Carbon Budget includes a projection for 2014 in addition to figures for 2013 by country and per capita. It's expected that CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels will rise by 2.5 percent in 2014, which is 65 percent above 1990 levels.

"The time for a quiet evolution in our attitudes towards climate change is now over," said Pierre Friedlingstein, one of the researchers. "Delaying action is not an option-we need to act together, and act quickly, if we are to stand a chance of avoiding climate change not long into the future, but within many of our own lifetimes. We have already used two-thirds of the total amount of carbon we can burn, in order to keep warming below the crucial 2 degrees Celsius level. If we carry on at that current rate we will reach our limit in as little as 30 years' time-and that is without any continued growth in emission levels."

For more information on emissions, check out the website here.