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CO2 levels 'rising faster'
23/10/2007 11:24 - (SA)
Washington - Economic growth has made carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increase much faster than expected, as trees and oceans struggle to absorb the greenhouse gas, scientists said in a study published on Monday.
"Atmospheric carbon dioxide growth has increased 35% faster than expected since 2000," said a statement from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), one of the bodies involved in the research.
Inefficient use of fuels increased CO2 by 17%, while the other 18% was due to a decline in the efficiency of natural "sinks", the forests and seas that soak up the gas from the atmosphere, it said.
"Fifty years ago, for every ton of CO2 emitted, 600kg were removed by natural sinks. In 2006 only 550kg were removed per ton and that amount is falling," said the study's lead author, Pep Canadell of the Global Carbon Project, in a statement.
"The proportion of carbon dioxide remaining in the atmosphere after vegetation and the oceans absorb what they can has escalated over the past 50 years, showing a decrease in the planet's ability to absorb anthropogenic (human-made) emissions."
Almost 10 billion tons of carbon were emitted worldwide in 2006 - 35% more than in 1990, the study found. The landmark Kyoto Protocol agreement committed countries to cut world greenhouse gas emissions five percent below the 1990 level by 2012.
"Improvements in the carbon intensity of the global economy have stalled since 2000 after improving for 30 years, leading to the unexpected growth of atmospheric CO2," the BAS said.
"The decline in global sink efficiency suggests that stabilisation of atmospheric CO2 is even more difficult to achieve than previously thought," said one of the study's authors, Corinne Le Quere, in the BAS statement.
The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States.
Most of the authors are members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Nobel Prize-winning United Nations body which has made key reports on climate change for world leaders.
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