An escalation by 35 percent

cyclon.jpgOne of the main events of the week is a study stating that greenhouse gases emissions are increasing 35 percent faster than forecast since 2000.

The causes for such an important increase have both economic and climatic origins and each reason account for nearly half of the phenomenon.

Indeed, human-made emissions increased in an important way since 2000 and in the meantime oceans and forests absorb less carbon dioxide (CO2) than previously.

According to the BBC :

Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere have risen 35% faster than expected since 2000, says a study.

International scientists found that inefficiency in the use of fossil fuels increased levels of CO2 by 17%.

The other 18% came from a decline in the natural ability of land and oceans to soak up CO2 from the atmosphere.

About half of emissions from human activity are absorbed by natural “sinks” but the efficiency of these sinks has fallen, the study suggests.

The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), was carried out by the Global Carbon Project, the University of East Anglia, UK, and the British Antarctic Survey.

It found that improvements in the carbon intensity of the global economy have stalled since 2000, leading to an unexpected jump in atmospheric CO2.

Nature News also state an interesting fact :

Before 2000, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels had been rising by about 1.5 parts per million (p.p.m.) per year. Since the turn of the century, that figure has jumped to 1.9 p.p.m. per year, says Josep Canadell of the Global Carbon Project in Canberra, Australia, who led the new survey.

This news stresses even more the importance that energy efficiency should have in climate change mitigation. Indeed the International Energy Agency released a study urging governments to take actions in this direction. (cf. IEA urges governments for energy efficiency)

A good way of solving this would be to find clean alternatives to coal. This will soon be the subject of my article.

I edit this article on October 25th as I found the original source of the study, on the page from the Global Carbon Project.

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