Global CO2 emissions at record high; extreme steps needed says new research
Fri 23 September 2011
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World CO2 emissions rose 45% between 1990 and 2010 reaching an all-time high of 33 billion tonnes, according to a new report by the EU's Joint Research Centre (JRC). Meanwhile, new research to be published in a leading journal says that large scale removal of CO2 from the atmosphere may be neccessary if emissions keep rising after 2020.
The JRC's report says that the increased use of renewables, nuclear power, and better energy efficiency, have not kept up with the world's growing demand for power and transport, which is strongest in developing countries.
Recession and the collapse of the former Soviet bloc helped industrialised countries to collectively reduce their greenhouse gas emissions over the last two decades, and they are likely to meet the collective Kyoto target of a 5.2 % emissions cut by 2012 as a result.
But continued economic growth in countries such as China and India, coupled with economic recovery in Europe and North America contributed to a record-breaking 5.8% increase in global CO2 emissions between 2009 and 2010.
Meanwhile, new research, to be published in the journal Climatic Change in November, suggests it may be neccessary to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere on a vast scale if emissions keep rising after 2020.
The series of articles provide scenarios which will form the basis of the next report by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2013 and 2014.
At present emissions levels, in less than 20 years the sky would effectively be full, meaning every extra tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted would have to be removed to stay within safer climate limits, one lead author says (quoted in Planet Ark).
That so-called "negative emissions" approach, where excess carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere, is a less radical step than direct manipulation of the climate, called geo-engineering, which includes blocking sunlight using artificial clouds or mirrors in space.
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