Global CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels are increasing every decade, and current emissions levels are said to be significantly higher than at the end of the twentieth century. Unfortunately, new research shows that the situation will only get worse in the days ahead, as the rate of global warming remains a major cause for concern.
Carbon emissions are expected to hit a new record this year, growing by between 1.1% and 2.1%, compared with an average of 0.5% per year over the past decade, according to research from the Global Carbon Project. The findings are part of the Global Carbon Budget Report released at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai last week.
Despite governments cracking down on deforestation, total carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas are expected to reach 36.8 billion metric tons this year. If land emissions are included, the figure will be even higher, with the total said to be as high as 40.9 billion tons. Emissions levels are similar to last year, leveling off due to measures taken by a handful of countries in some parts of the world. However, this is not the drastic reduction in emissions needed to prevent catastrophic climate change.
The study also estimates that we will continue to exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius target set out in the Paris Agreement in the coming years, and world leaders will even have to be more vigilant to keep the increase below 2 degrees Celsius. Professor Pierre Friedlingstein, lead researcher at Exeter's Global Systems Institute, believes that despite the increasing damage and destruction caused by extreme weather caused by climate change, "action to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels remains painfully slow".
It's not all doom and gloom, however, as some parts of the world are taking steps to effectively reduce carbon emissions. Europe and the United States are leading the way in reducing their carbon footprint, but the world as a whole needs to do more to prevent dangerous climate change from triggering extreme weather in many environmentally sensitive areas around the world, according to the Global Carbon Budget report.
The research team that wrote this report consists of more than 120 scientists from 90 institutions around the world, including the University of Exeter, the University of East Anglia (UEA), CICERO International Climate Research Center, Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, etc.