Global Warming: CO2 Emissions Go Up by 45 Per Cent, Says Report

Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have increased by 45 per cent in the past two decades and reached an all-time high in 2010, says a report.

The recent figures published by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency shows that CO2 emission reached at an all-time peak with 33 billion tonnes in 2010 and has been drastically growing year by year, from 1990 to 2010.

Global warming is the most serious threat the environment has ever faced, CO2 emission being the major cause for global warming, as it comprises 72 per cent of the totally emitted greenhouse gases.

According to the report, the emission increase was significant as compared to 2008, when the global CO2 emissions were at their highest before the global financial crisis.

CO2 emissions went up in most of the major countries, led by China which saw a 10 per cent increase and USA and India with four and nine per cent, respectively.

However, the emission declined to one per cent in 2009, but increased by more than five percent in 2010.

During the period of 1990-2010, CO2 emissions in the European Union and Russia decreased by seven percent and 28 percent, respectively, while emissions in the U.S. increased by five percent.

According to the report, increased energy efficiency, nuclear energy and the growing contribution of renewable energy are not compensating for the globally increasing demand for power and transport, which is strongest in developing countries.

The industrialized countries that have approved the Kyoto Protocol, including the U.S., in 1990 have caused about two-thirds of global CO2 emissions.

The data shows that due to the continuous large variation in national emission growth trends in 2010, 54 per cent of global emission is caused by developing countries and 43 per cent from the developed industrialized countries.