Biggest Jump Ever in CO2
2010 saw a frightening increase in CO2 emissions, higher than the worst case scenario used by climate experts just four years ago.
New data shows that 2010 was a trifecta of bad news: The world, the US, and China all produced record-breaking amounts of CO2. Unfortunately, it is a record we did not want to break. Frighteningly we broke it with 9% unemployment in the US and a world economy that is limping along. The record increase in CO2 emissions was driven by the growth of coal consumption in the US and China during a time when many of us thought that emissions from coal in the US would decline because of increased natural gas production—natural gas emits about half as much CO2 as coal for comparable amounts of heat or electricity.
“It is a monster increase that is unheard of,” said Gregg Marland, a professor of geology at Appalachian State University, who has helped calculate Department of Energy figures in the past.
Most scientists believe that humans should reduce CO2 emissions to below 1980 levels. Some of us believe we need to get below 1950 levels to protect our planet from dangerous overheating. This graph shows how hard either will be.
“It’s a big jump,” said Tom Boden, director of the Energy Department’s Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center at Oak Ridge National Lab.
With the economy not yet going full blast, this dramatic jump surprised many observers. Let us hope that 2010 was an anomaly, not the beginning of a string of record-breaking years.
Source of quotes: http://www.ydr.com/nation-world/ci_19257296
Image from Wikipedia
