Posted on December 27, 2012 by Bob Berwyn
Capping temperature increase at 2 degrees is almost unattainable
Global temperatures were well above average in Nov. 2012. Map courtesy NASA.
By Summit Voice
FRISCO —With 2012 winding down, climate scientists are taking stock of progress on controlling heat-trapping greenhouse gases, and the general conclusion is that it’s just about too late to stop the plunge off the climate cliff.
Researchers with the Global Carbon Project said in a report earlier this month that reductions required to limit global warming to the targeted 2 degrees Celsius are becoming a receding goal.
“A shift to a 2-degree Celsius pathway requires an immediate, large, and sustained global mitigation effort” said Global Carbon Project director Dr. Pep Canadell. Continue reading
Filed under: climate and weather, Environment, global warming, greenhouse gases | Tagged: climate change, Environment, Global Carbon Project, global warming, greenhouse gases, IPCC | Leave a comment »
Posted on December 2, 2012 by Bob Berwyn
U.S. still by far the largest per capita emitter of greenhouse gases
By Summit Voice
FRISCO — As delegates to the COP 18 climate talks in Doha, Qatar struggle to find agreement on basic issues — like how to account accurately for greenhouse gas emissions — the Global Carbon Project is reporting that carbon dioxide emissions will climb by 2.6 percent in 2012 to reach a record high of 35.6 billion tons in 2012.
The biggest contributors to global emissions in 2011 were China (28 per cent), the United States (16 per cent), the European Union (11 per cent), and India (7 per cent). Overall, 2012 emissions are now 58 percent higher than in 1990, the baseline year for targets set under the Kyoto Protocol. Continue reading
Filed under: climate and weather, Environment, global warming, greenhouse gases | Tagged: carbon dioxide emissions, CO2, COP 18, Doha, Global Carbon Project, global warming, greenhouse gases, Kyoto Protocol, Tyndall Centre | Leave a comment »
Posted on November 22, 2010 by Bob Berwyn
Global total could reach record levels after a one-year drop
The bar graph indicates how much heat in terms of Watts per meter squared that each greenhouse gas traps in the Earth's lower atmosphere. Carbon dioxide (CO2) (light gray) is clearly the largest contributor. From the 1970s to the late 1980s, Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) (red) were the second largest contributor until the Montreal Protocol banned them. Their effects, now dropping off are now much less of a contributor. The other two main greenhouse gases are Nitrous oxide (N20) (yellow) and Methane (CH4) (blue).
By Summit Voice
Global carbon dioxide emissions — the main contributor to global warming — show no sign of abating and may reach record levels in 2010, according to a study led by the University of Exeter, in the UK..
The study, which also involved the University of East Angliaand other global institutions, is part of the annual carbon budget update by the Global Carbon Project.
In a paper published today in Nature Geoscience, the authors found that despite the major financial crisis that hit the world last year, global CO2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuel in 2009 were only 1.3 percent below the record 2008 figures — less than half the drop predicted a year ago.
The global financial crisis resulted in big drops in CO2 emissions in 2009. Emissions in the UK dropped 8.6 percent, with similar reductions in other major industrial countries, including the USA, Japan, France and Germany. Continue reading
Filed under: climate and weather, Environment, global warming, Summit County Colorado | Tagged: CO@, Environment, Global Carbon Project, global warming, greenhouse gases, Nature Geoscience, Summit County Colorado, Summit County News, University of East Anglia, University of Exeter | Leave a comment »