Global CO2 emissions take “monster” jump in 2010 due largely to increases in China, U.S.
The good news: developed countries that ratified the Kyoto Protocol, Canada notwithstanding, have collectively reduced CO2 emissions to below 1990 levels.
The bad news: Emissions from the United States, China, India and other developing countries took a giant leap in 2010, bringing total global emissions 6 per cent higher than the previous year, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Energy.
So, sadly, it seems that global emissions are higher than the worst-case projections that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published in its 2007 report. Under its worst-case scenario predictions, global temperatures will rise by between 4 and 11 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100. Atmospheric CO2 concentrations are currently 389 parts per million and rising fast.
Something’s gotta give, folks.
And all of this when we’re supposedly teetering on the brink of recession. Hell, imagine what things would be like if the economy was running on all cylinders. Scary.
Tags: CO2 emissions, IPPC
Tyler Hamilton is associate publisher and editor-in-chief of Corporate Knights magazine and former business columnist for the Toronto Star. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005.
November 4th, 2011 at 5:15 pm
China, India and USA make the rule in this matter. Everything else is just hot air. If they are not onboard in five years from now, then we better make plans for a very hot earth by 2030.
November 14th, 2011 at 12:06 am
Did the Kyoto Protocol countries actually reduce emissions or did they just manage to export all their manufacturing (and the resulting emissions) to China, India and all those other unregulated 3rd world nations?
MrC