Despite Sluggish Economy, Global Carbon Emissions Reach Record High

The New York Times is reporting that the worldwide carbon dioxide emissions “from fossil-fuel burning jumped by the largest amount on record last year, upending the notion that the brief decline during the recession might persist through the recovery.” This report follows news from earlier this year about the increase in US based emissions, which were up from 2009, but still below 2005 levels.

The Times cites a recent study from the Global Carbon Project (GCP). For a copy of the media summary from GCP, click here. Among the findings, GCP noted the “annual growth rate of atmospheric CO₂ was 2.36Âą0.09 ppm in 2010 (ppm = parts per million), one of the largest growth rates in the past decade.” This growth rate was nearly 25% higher than the average for the first decade of the millennium, and roughly 33% higher than the last two decades of the preceding century.

GCP’s report covers the following topics:

Emissions from land use change
Emissions from fossil fuel and cement
Regional fossil fuel emissions
Global Financial Crisis and Carbon Intensity of the Economy
CO2 emissions from goods and services
CO2 removal by natural sinks

In the article, the Times claims that the GCP found a 5.9% increase in emissions, which amounts to an extra 500 million tons of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere over the previous year. “Scientists with the group said the increase . . . was almost certainly the largest absolute jump in any year since the Industrial Revolution, and the largest percentage increase since 2003.”

GCP began in 2001. It “was formed to assist the international science community to establish a common, mutually agreed knowledge base supporting policy debate and action to slow the rate of increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.” According to the Times, the increase comes on the heels of a 1.4% drop during 2009.

[Image source]