Greenhouse gases have been something climatologists and activists have been worrying about for decades. The problem is that the average citizen has been hearing so much about the efforts to reduce or do away with these gases that they often think the problem has been solved. The Global Carbon Project, convened in Warsaw, Poland put the rumors of a cure to rest with new numbers that show CO2 and other Greenhouse gas emissions actually rising.
There have been plenty of companies over the last few years who have made major headlines with their effort to reduce their carbon footprint. Even giant companies like Google have turned to green energy as a way to reduce their carbon emissions. The problem appears to be that even these efforts are just a drop in the bucket when it comes to reducing global carbon dioxide emissions.
The Global Carbon Project released a new report at the end of November, which showed that CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion reached an all-time high of 9.7 gigatons in 2012. That number showed a 58 percent growth over measurements taken in 1990. That year is often used as a benchmark when it comes to measuring carbon emissions and their growth or reduction.
Not surprisingly, coal and oil were the top two offenders when it came to increasing carbon emissions. Coal in particular, made up almost half of the total emissions (43 percent) while oil made up a third (33 percent). Even smaller companies, like the Tucson Medical Center changing the way they get power from fossil fuel to Solar Power will help stem the tide, but the report also showed that the group believes emissions will grow another 2 percent in 2013.
The problem seems to be that when once country moves to stop coal production or oil consumption, another country around the globe takes it place. This is best witnessed by efforts of the US and the World Bank to actually limit the financing of new coal projects. Despite those efforts, Germany and Japan have increased their coal use as they move away from nuclear plants. In short, the problem still exists, groups like the Global Carbon Project wants to fix that problem, but there hasn’t been a true solution offered up just yet.
Edited by Ryan Sartor