Global Warming

2013 Global Carbon Emissions to Reach Record Level

The world is on track to emit record levels of carbon dioxide this year, according to a new report announced yesterday (Nov. 18).

The study, to be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Earth System Science Data Discussions, found that the world is set to emit nearly 40 billion tons (36 billion metric tons) of carbon dioxide by the end of 2013.

The estimate represents a 2.1 percent increase over last year's emissions levels, and a 61 percent increase over 1990 levels.

The researchers found that China was the biggest contributor to emissions in 2012, followed by the United States, the European Union and India. But China and India, developing nations with rapidly growing economies, showed the biggest increase in their carbon emissions.

Some of those carbon emissions are outsourced from wealthier nations that have moved manufacturing centres to poorer countries.

U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions decreased by 3.7 percent in 2012, in part because the economy has been in a slump for several years and the country has shifted from producing coal-fired power to energy fuelled by burning natural gas, which emits less carbon dioxide. Cars have also been getting more fuel-efficient.

Still, the United States has the largest per capita emissions in the world: Each person in the United States has a carbon footprint of 17.6 tons (16 metric tons), compared to just 2 tons (1.8 metric tons) for people in India, the study found. U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions from January through July of this year were at 3.13 trillion tons, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, up slightly from the 3.064 trillion tons emitted during the same period in 2012.

In 2012, about 43 percent of the global carbon emissions came from burning coal, and 33 percent came from oil. Another 18 percent came from natural gas, and deforestation was responsible for another 8 percent of the emissions.