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| The annual growth of atmospheric CO2 was 1.8 ppm in 2008, slightly below the average for the period 2000-2008 of 1.9 ppm per year (ppm = parts per million). The mean growth rate for the previous 20 years was about 1.5 ppm per year. This increase brought the atmospheric CO2 concentration to 385 ppm in 2008, 38% above the concentration at the start of the industrial revolution (about 280 ppm in 1750). The present concentration is the highest during at least the last 2 million years. Read more ... |
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| Fossil fuel CO2 emissions continued to grow strongly in 2008 at 2% per year. This growth lead to an all time high of 8.7 PgC emitted to the atmosphere (1 Pg = 1 billion tons or 1000 x million tons), 29% above emissions in 2000, and 41% above the Kyoto reference year 1990. Coal is now the largest fossil-fuel source of CO2 emissions. Over 90% of the growth in coal emissions results from increased coal use in China and India. Global emissions per capita reached 1.3 tonnes of carbon but the developed countries still lead. Read more ... |
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| Land use change was responsible for estimated net emissions of 1.5 PgC per year over the last 15 years. In 2008, estimated emissions declined to 1.2 Pg C. Wet La Niña conditions probably contributed to limited fire use and deforestation rate in Southeast Asia. Emissions from Brazil and Indonesia account for 61% of all emissions from land use change. The contribution of land use change emissions to the total emissions from human activities was 12% in 2008, down from 20% in the 1990s. Read more ... |
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| The biggest increase in emissions has taken place in developing countries (with close to 6 billion people) while developed countries (with less than 1 billion people), on average, show rather steady emissions for the last decade. About one quarter of the recent growth in emissions in developing countries resulted from the increase in international trade of goods and services produced in developing countries but consumed in developed countries. The largest regional shift in 2008 was India overtaking Russia as the third largest CO2 emitter. China and the US remain in first and second position. Read more ... |
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| The current financial crisis had a small but probably discernable impact on the emissions growth rate in 2008 (growth rate of 2.0% down from 3.6% per year average over the previous 7 years). Despite this slowdown, fossil fuel emissions continue to track the average of the most carbon-intensive scenario of the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change. In 2009, we project emissions to decline to levels observed in 2007 with negative growth of -2.8%. Positive growth is expected return in 2011 as the change in global Gross Domestic Product goes positive. Read more ... |
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| Natural land and ocean CO2 sinks removed 57% (or 5.3 PgC per year) of all CO2 emitted from human activities during the 1958-2008. During this period the size of the natural sinks has grown but at a slower pace than emissions have grown, although year to year variability is large. This implies a decline in the efficiency of the sinks in removing atmospheric CO2 over time (from 60% fifty years ago down to 55% in recent years), a trend expected to continue the future. Models suggest the sinks are responding to climate change and variability. Read more ... |
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| The global oceanic CO2 sink removed 26% of all CO2 emissions for the period 2000-2008, equivalent to an average of 2.3 PgC per year. While the total amount of CO2 being removed by the ocean is increasing, its efficiency (the fraction removed of the total emissions) appears to have been declining over the last two decades partially owing to the decline in efficiency of the Southern Ocean and North Atlantic Ocean where long-term field observations and model results appear to be in agreement. In 2008, the oceans removed an amount of CO2 slightly below average. Read more ... |
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| Terrestrial CO2 sinks removed 29% of all anthropogenic emissions for the period 2000-2008, equivalent to an average of 3 PgC per year. In 2008, terrestrial ecosystems removed 4.7 PgC, significantly higher than the long term average owing to the wetter conditions brought about by La Niña. An analysis of the long term trend of the terrestrial sink shows a growing size of the CO2 sink over the last 60 years but not discernable change in the efficiency of the sink. Read more ...
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| The human perturbation of the carbon cycle continues to grow strongly and track near the most carbon intensive scenarios of the UN-Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The economic crisis will likely have a transitional impact on the growth of CO2 emissions and an undetectable effect on the growth of atmospheric CO2 (because the much larger inter-annual variability of the natural sinks). The efficiency of the natural sinks has likeley declined during the last 60 years. |
