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Report: Global Carbon Dioxide Emissions Up 3%
Worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide climbed 1 billion tons to a record 34 billion tons last year, led by a 9% jump in China, according to an annual assessment by the European Commission.
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Worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide climbed 1 billion tons to a record 34 billion tons last year, led by a 9% jump in China, according to an annual assessment by the European Commission.
Trends in Global CO2 Emissions bases its assessment on the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research. The report was compiled by the EC's Joint Research Centre and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.
Last year's 3% increase in CO2 compared with a decade average of 2.7%, according to the analysis. It says CO2 emissions declined in 2008 but jumped 5% in 2010.
Last year's biggest emitters were China (29% of the total), the U.S. (16%), European Union (11%), India (6%), Russia (5%) and Japan (4%).
The report says China with CO2 emissions of 7.2 tons per capita last year is now within the 6-19-ton range for major industrialized nations. Emissions by the EU fell 3% to 7.5 tons per capita in 2011. CO2 emitted by the U.S. declined 2% last year to 17.3 tons per capita.
Human activities accounted for 420 billion tons of CO2 emissions between 2000 and 2011, according to the EC report. If that trend continues, it notes, emissions within the next 20 years will surpass a United Nations goal of limiting human-related CO2 releases to no more than 1.5 trillion tons between 2000 and 2050.