tecoyah

It would seem we have been naughty over the last few years.....Bad, Bad humans.



"Recent CO2 rises exceed worst-case scenarios

* 22:00 21 May 2007
* NewScientist.com news service
* Catherine Brahic



The world's recent carbon dioxide emissions are growing more rapidly than even the worst-case climate scenario used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, say researchers.

The team, led by Michael Raupach of the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, looked at the growth of CO2 emissions and found that emissions growth suddenly accelerated in 2000. During the 1990s, emissions grew by 1.1% per year on average, but the number shot up to 3.3% between 2000 and 2004, when the study ended.

When they compared the recent emissions trend to those the UN-backed IPCC drew up as its "worst case scenario", the team found the reality was at least as bad, if not worse (see graph, right).

The team then examined the changes between 1980 and 2004 in factors such as population, economic growth, energy efficiency and carbon efficiency (the amount used per unit of GDP). From this, they were able to determine why CO2 emissions accelerated after 2000."

http://environment.newscientist.com/...scenarios.html

debaser

The world is going to hell in a handbasket. It is getting harder and harder to remain "carbon neutral". We bought a good chunk of forested land a while back, and I figure I have to burn something like 30 to 35 tires a day just to remain neutral now. Do you have any idea how much time that takes out of my day?

Just kidding (or am I?)...

It is a very interesting article, I have to wonder if this effect is due to China and India's blooming economies.

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jbw97361

wow, and where is most of that new pollution coming from? China!

That's right, a Kyoto Protocol country. They signed it.

However, they are still a developing nation; that means "pollute the shit out of the planet to catch up with everyone else". I recall also reading recently that China is going to pass us by soon as the world's premiere polluter.

Perhaps its time for the leadership in this nation (either party i don't care) to say that we will only participate in free trade with nations that create products responsibly.

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JBW

Zeraph

Le sigh. Advancements mean nothing if there is no future to have them in. We really need to start living more harmoniously with our environment.

Willravel

I hope everyone likes eating cactus. Sounds like we're blowing it.

tenniels

What blows my mind is that there are still people who consider the environment and global warming to be a non-priority. It scares me because the world is a completely different place than it was when I was a child, and I'm only 24. And I'm not just talking the environment either. Little girls wearing booty shorts, kids knowledge of very adult topics, cell phones for 10 year olds etc. This is why I don't want kids or am scared to have them. Anyways, sorry to get off topic. When I was young, we used to have blizzards and it would get so cold that we would stay home from school. We haven't had a winter like that in a long time.

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Ourcrazymodern?

Granted that we've been digging up and drilling for the stored carbon of billions of years and then burning it, putting it back into the air. Plants still build themselves out of it from there, right?

Gas-hog vehicles were legislated against, but people still love their giant and powerful engines. I believe there is hope in spite of our foolishness, because mother earth is resilient and has come back from worse.

Damnit, though, if our offspring are not here to enjoy life.

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BE JUST AND FEAR NOT

thingstodo

What kills me is that no one discusses two of the biggest culprits: emissions from jets and the deforestation of the Amazon. I've read that those two items alone carry the brunt of the bottom line impact of our CO2 problems. Also all the palm oil farms that were once forests converting a lot of CO2.

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If you're wringing your hands you can't roll up your shirt sleeves.

Stangers have the best candy.

seretogis

I have more than enough faith in Mother Nature that she will survive whatever us silly humans throw at her. Whether or not all humans will survive her counter-move, however, is uncertain and not really a major concern of mine.

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seretogis - sieg heil
perfect little dream the kind that hurts the most, forgot how it feels well almost
no one to blame always the same, open my eyes wake up in flames

BBtB

Here in oklahoma we just had a terrible winter.


Honestly. Global warming IS a non issue... We need to spend our time finding a path to peace in the middle east (which will take the sword as much as the olive branch IMO) and working on things like alternative fuels. First off with the middle east.. There wont be anyone left in 20 years to worry about this crap if we don't clean up that mess. People think it wont happen but it will. Then of course if we get on alternative fuels that solves much of the global warming concerns. More importantly the world used to be considerbly warmer then it is now and I notice it is strangely still here.

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Meridae'n once played "death" at a game of chess that lasted for over two years. He finally beat death in a best 34 out of 67 match. At that time he could ask for any one thing and he could wish for the hope of all mankind... he looked death right in the eye and said ...

"I would like about three fiddy"

archetypal fool

I've got to disagree with you on that one. It's one of the biggest miss-conceptions about global warming that the entire world will become hotter, which isn't the case. Global warming will completely mess up regular weather patterns; therefor, some places will increase in temp, other will decrease, but there will be a net increase in temp. It always gets to me when someone says "well, we just had the coldest winter in the city's history. therefor, global warming isn't real."

Besides, the heat will be the least of our worries when sea levels rise 50 feet. Think Katrina, times a million.

And depending on the alternative fuel which we switch to, the story will be the same. Burning ether and biofuel still produces CO2, since all combustion reactions involving hydrocarbons release CO2. The only difference will be price.

We need to figure this shit out now, because we're in a sad state of affairs...

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I have my own particular sorrows, loves, delights; and you have yours. But sorrow, gladness, yearning, hope, love, belong to all of us, in all times and in all places. Music is the only means whereby we feel these emotions in their universality. ~H.A. Overstreet

Nimetic

Ah not the China argument again.

First up... Don't criticize them in relation to Kyoto. You say that they signed it. AU and the US didn't.

Second. They are one of the fastest growing emitters. This is different from being the biggest emitter (not sure who has that, but NationMaster lists USA as being the biggest overall) . In either case, what matters is emission per-capita. You'd be well advised to have a look at how the average Chinese person lives. What is the car ownership percentage? How many of them, as a percentage, take one or more airline trips in a lifetime? How many own a computer - particularly a modern one that actually uses much power.

Third, on this pollute the planet and to hell with everyone else... this is bullshit. They are trying to make a living. Admittedly their environment standards are low, but this is changing (partly because they're not polluting the planet, so much as they are polluting China). If you were in the same position, you'd probably decide also - to put feeding the country and the economy first.

In fact... my feeling is that you are taking the 'economy first line' in either case. My guess is that you are already well-fed. I've been to China. I've not seen much of it - but I did notice that the coutryside looked dirt-poor. Asking them to make cuts before the western world is a bit rich.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/en...-co2-emissions

Ourcrazymodern?

umm, you're not really worried about CO2, are you, tecoyah?

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BE JUST AND FEAR NOT