A November 2009 report by international researchers who are also part of “Global Carbon Project” and published by Nature Geoscience shows an increase in CO2 emissions of 2.0% from 2007, 29% from 2000 and 41% above emissions in 1990. Another report by the International Energy Agency confirmed that China is by far the world largest CO2 emitter ahead of the USA. However, the USA still leads the CO2 emissions per capita ahead of Australia and Canada. These reports have highlighted several frightening trends:

a) Average atmospheric CO2 in 2008 reached a concentration of 385 ppm, which is 38% above pre-industrial levels. This seems to be the highest level or carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in 800,000 years …

b) This recent growth in CO2 emissions parallels a shift in the largest fuel emission source from oil to coal. Coal contributed 40% of the fossil fuel CO2 emissions in 2008, compared with 37% for 1990–2000, whereas the contribution of oil changed from 41% for 1990–2000 to 36% in 2008.

c) The mechanisms that allow naturally occurring carbon sinks cannot cope with the current emissions: the earth’s carbon sink (land and oceans) ability to trap and process CO2 is decreasing, causing amongst other phenomenon a negative change in ocean ecosystems.

d) Emerging countries have passed developing countries in CO2 emissions (except per capita). One contributing factor is the off-shoring manufacturing impact of traded goods. In China alone, 30% of the growth in emissions between 1990 and 2002 was attributable to the production of exports from China that were consumed in other countries. In total a quarter of the growth in CO2 emissions can be imputable to trading goods.

e) Warmer oceans, melting ice. The world’s ocean surface temperature was the warmest for any August on record, and the warmest on record averaged for any June-August (Northern Hemisphere summer/Southern Hemisphere winter) season according to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center. At the end of the Arctic summer, more ice cover remained this year than during the previous record-setting low years of 2007 and 2008. However, sea ice has not recovered to previous levels. September sea ice extent was the third lowest since the start of satellite records in 1979, and the past five years have seen the five lowest ice extents in the satellite record.

Links:

http://ecoworldly.com/2009/11/22/fossil-fuel-co2-emissions-trends-1990-2000-2008-global-carbon-budget-by-global-carbon-project/

http://www.iea.org/co2highlights/

http://www.globalcarbonproject.org

http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v2/n12/abs/ngeo689.html

http://nsidc.org/news/press/20091005_minimumpr.html

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2009/20090916_globalstats.html

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