Current:Home > BackGlobal CO2 Emissions to Hit Record High in 2017-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Global CO2 Emissions to Hit Record High in 2017
View Date:2024-12-23 23:01:20
Sign up to receive our latest reporting on climate change, energy and environmental justice, sent directly to your inbox. Subscribe here.
The world is on its way to record-high carbon emissions in 2017, after three straight years in which human-caused emissions appeared to be leveling off, new research shows.
The projected 2 percent increase in emissions this year adds urgency to the UN climate talks this week in Bonn, where 197 countries are negotiating how to implement the 2015 Paris climate agreement to slow global warming.
“There’s not much time left to cut emissions and keep warming below 2 degrees Celsius, let alone 1.5 degrees,” said Corinne Le Quéré, director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia, who led the emissions research presented Monday in Bonn. The aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial times. For that to happen, studies have shown that emissions must peak within the next decade and then decline to net zero.
The new figures may be disappointing after hopeful speculation that emissions were already peaking, but not entirely unexpected.
China’s Coal Bump
The region with the biggest projected surge in 2017 emissions—about 3.5 percent—is China, where coal consumption increased, according to the study.
Le Quéré said the increase in Chinese emissions can be partly attributed to a long dry spell that cut the amount of water available for hydropower, meaning more coal was burned. The Chinese drought hasn’t directly been linked to climate change, but it is an example of a possible reinforcing feedback in the climate energy cycle, she said.
The research suggests U.S. coal consumption is also up slightly this year, but it projects that overall emissions from the U.S.—currently the No. 2 emitter behind China—will drop by 0.4 percent, due in part to a shift to natural gas and renewable energy.
India’s emissions, meanwhile, are projected to grow by about 2 percent—down from over 6 percent growth per year during the last decade. Emissions are projected to decrease in 22 other countries with growing economies representing 20 percent of global emissions.
“Our expectations had always been that emissions would grow, but perhaps not as steeply as this,” Le Quéré said. “What the countries have said they were going to do in Paris is that emissions will continue to grow by about 1 percent per year until about 2030. But that’s not in line with limiting the global temperature increase to less than 2 degrees Celsius. That’s why we have to increase our ambition for greenhouse gas cuts.”
‘A Red Flashing Light on the Dashboard’
It would be a mistake to think that a 2 percent increase is not a big deal, said Colorado State University climate scientist Scott Denning.
“It’s somewhat tempting to be complacent and say emissions have flattened out, but having them flatten out at that level is not going to help us,” Denning said. “We’ve got to cut emissions by half in the next decade, and by half again in the next two decades, as well. The fact that it’s going up is like a red flashing light on the dashboard.”
A 2 percent global increase would be a jump from previous years. A 0.7 percent increase was reported in 2014, no increase in 2015, and 0.2 percent in 2016. Despite the leveling off of emissions from fossil fuels and other human sources during those years, research shows that increased carbon emissions from tropical forests linked to El Niño, a cyclical warming of the equatorial Pacific, continued to drive atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and global temperatures up.
Overall, human-caused carbon emissions have grown at an average annual rate of 3.5 percent since 2000, but at a slower pace of 1.8 percent between 2006 and 2015, according to the Global Carbon Project.
“This shows how totally urgent it is to decrease emissions as fast as we can,” said Pieter Tans, an atmospheric scientist with NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory, whose research on monitoring and verification of emissions was also presented Monday.
Tans urged world leaders to forge ahead with emissions cuts, despite the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back U.S. climate policies and promote fossil fuels.
“Show the U.S. what you can do,” he said, “as the rest of the world goes ahead and leaves the U.S. behind in the 19th century.”
He explained his frustration: “I’m not just a scientist. I’m a citizen, and I’m worried about the direction we’re going. I have kids and grandkids. I want them to have a good life, and things don’t look good currently.”
A New ‘World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity’
On Monday, the journal BioScience published a letter signed by more than 15,000 scientists from around the world that looks back at the human response to climate change and other environmental challenges in the 25 years since another large group of scientists published the 1992 “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity.”
“Since 1992, with the exception of stabilizing the stratospheric ozone layer, humanity has failed to make sufficient progress in generally solving these foreseen environmental challenges, and alarmingly, most of them are getting far worse,” the authors of the new letter write. “Especially troubling is the current trajectory of potentially catastrophic climate change due to rising GHGs (greenhouse gases) from burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and agricultural production—particularly from farming ruminants for meat consumption.”
The original letter had warned about the need to move away from fossil fuels and cut greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the planet. The new letter notes, among other trends, that 10 of the hottest years in 136 years of records have occured since 1998.
veryGood! (51914)
Related
- Dwayne Johnson Admits to Peeing in Bottles on Set After Behavior Controversy
- March Madness men's teams most likely to end Final Four droughts, ranked by heartbreak
- 8-year-old Kentucky boy dies after eating strawberries at school fundraiser: Reports
- As more states target disavowed ‘excited delirium’ diagnosis, police groups push back
- When does Spirit Christmas open? What to know about Spirit Halloween’s new holiday venture
- Iowa officer fatally shoots a man armed with two knives after he ran at police
- Save 54% On This Keurig Machine That Makes Hot and Iced Coffee With Ease
- Kristin Cavallari Shares Photo of Boyfriend Mark Estes Bonding With Her Son
- The ancient practice of tai chi is more popular than ever. Why?
- Supreme Court rejects appeal by former New Mexico county commissioner banned for Jan. 6 insurrection
Ranking
- 'Yellowstone' premiere: Record ratings, Rip's ride and Billy Klapper's tribute
- Nickelodeon actors allege abuse in 'Quiet on Set' doc: These former child stars have spoken up
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Bring the Heat
- UConn draws region of death: Huskies have a difficult path to March Madness Final Four
- Kentucky governor says investigators will determine what caused deadly Louisville factory explosion
- 50 women on ski trip stranded by snowstorm, trapped in bus overnight: We looked after each other
- Robbie Avila's star power could push Indiana State off the NCAA men's tournament bubble
- Luck of Irish not needed to save some green on St. Patrick's Day food and drink deals
Recommendation
-
Taking stock of bonds: Does the 60/40 rule still have a role in retirement savings?
-
When do new episodes of 'Invincible' come out? See full Season 2 Part 2 episode schedule
-
Blake Lively appears to take aim at Princess Kate's photo editing drama: 'I've been MIA'
-
NC State completes miracle run, punches March Madness ticket with first ACC title since 1987
-
Biden funded new factories and infrastructure projects, but Trump might get to cut the ribbons
-
When is Final Four for March Madness? How to watch women's and men's tournaments
-
Greg Gumbel, longtime March Madness studio host, to miss men's NCAA Tournament
-
Book excerpt: Burn Book: A Tech Love Story by Kara Swisher