This particular study is interesting, if not just for the various ways it has been spun depending on which source you consult.
While some outlets point to a 2008-2009 dip, others highlight the “record levels” carbon emissions are expected to reach in 2010. The reduction in global Co2 emissions was 1.3% in 2009, the first reduction in those numbers in a decade, but one of the head researchers on the study told the BBC that the drop amounts to “peanuts” in the grand scheme of things:
“What we find is a drop in emissions from fossil fuels in 2009 of 1.3%, which is not dramatic,” said lead researcher Pierre Friedlingstein from the UK’s University of Exeter.
“Based on GDP projections last year, we were expecting much more.
“If you think about it, it’s like four days’ worth of emissions; it’s peanuts,” he told BBC News.
Developed nations saw the greatest declines, with Japan and the UK at nearly 12 and 9% respectively, and Germany at a 7% drop. China and India saw marked increases, at 8 and nearly 7%. In 2010, the increase is set to be on track with previous years at about 3% worldwide.