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Damning new evidence presented by a scientific body has shown a four-fold increase in carbon emissions throughout the world since 2000, despite ongoing efforts to reduce them.
Img: CO2 pollution. Credit: Gregory Heath , CSIRO.
The Global Carbon Project, a joint carbon cycle project sponsored by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Research (IHDP), and the World Climate Research Program, found that emissions from the use of fossil fuels and land use changes had almost reached 10 billion tonnes in 2007.
“This is a concerning trend in light of global efforts to curb emissions,” said Dr. Pep Canadell, Global Carbon Project (GCP) executive director and a carbon specialist based at CSIRO in Canberra, Australia.
Dr. Canadell also added that atmospheric carbon had far outstripped the growth of natural carbon dioxide sinks such as forests and oceans.
The results were released by Dr. Canadell in Washington, and also in Paris by Dr. Michael Raupach, the GCP co-Chair. Dr. Canadell said the figures were disturbing in light of efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
"Econom[ies] have grown substantially and at the same time we've been saying we're doing all sorts of different things to address climate change and reduce emissions," he said. "So it comes a little as a shock when you look at the measurements and compare what happened in 1990 and what has been happening in 2000 is so strikingly different."
One of the reasons behind the surge in atmospheric carbon was the growth of emerging powerhouses such as India and China, Dr. Canadell explained.
"What we are talking about now for the first time is that the absolute value of all emissions going into the atmosphere every year are bigger coming from less developing countries than the developed world," he told the Reuters news agency. "The other thing we confirm is that China is indeed now the top emitter."
Professor Barry Brook, director of the Research Institute for Climate Change and Sustainability at the University of Adelaide, Australia, said the increase in carbon emissions would lead to a greater warming of the planet.
Saying that CO2 concentrations could reach as high as 450 ppm (parts per million) by 2030 instead of 2040, as originally predicted, Prof. Brook warned: "But whatever the specific date, 450 ppm CO2 commits us to 2ºC global warming and all the disastrous consequences this sets in train."
The Global Carbon Project was founded in 2001 and looks at changes in the global carbon cycle taking into account increases in carbon emissions and the rate of how carbon is absorbed through natural carbon sinks.
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