CO2 levels rising much faster than expected
Tue 05 June 2007
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A new scientific study indicates that worldwide CO2 emissions are rising three times more quickly than was previously thought.
The increase outstrips even the most fossil-fuel-oriented scenario that was drawn up by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in the 1990s, and even more recent IPCC predictions of the environmental problems faced appear conservative in the light of this latest study.
The report was compiled by members of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (USA), the University of East Anglia, the British Antarctic Survey and institutes in Australia and France. It indicates a 3% annual increase over the past ten years - this has grown from 1.1% in the 1990s - three quarters of which can be attributable to developing countries, particularly China. The International Energy Agency recently suggested that China will become the biggest GHG emitter by 2010, not 2020 as previously believed.
The US, as current emissions leader, is hardly more compliant. In a statement last week, President Bush hinted at American resistance to the EU's proposal of a limit of 2 degrees' temperature rise, while he also stands against "cap and trade" systems, believed by Europeans to be the only way to persuade and enable the developing world to use clean technologies. However, he is reported to be willing to discuss the issue with the world's top 15 polluters in an attempt to draw up a post-Kyoto treaty before the end of his term in office.
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