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November 21, 2012

Report: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reach Record High 
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New figures show greenhouse gas emissions have reached an all-time high.
On Tuesday, the United Nations said global emissions broke all previous
records in 2011. Unveiling an annual report on emissions, Michel Jarraud
of the World Meteorological Organization warned the increase will likely
assure a global temperature rise of more than 2 degrees Celsius.

Michel Jarraud: "The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has
reached once again a record high in 2011. The current concentration of
the major anthropogenic greenhouse gases like CO2, like methane, like
nitrous oxide are now such that the target of remaining within a 2
degrees increase is getting increasingly unlikely."

Jarraud added that the increase includes record levels of gases most
responsible for global warming — carbon dioxide, methane and
nitrous oxide — which will remain in the atmosphere for centuries.

Michel Jarraud: "Between 1990 and 2011, so over the last essentially 20
years, there has been a 30 percent increase in radiative forcing. An
increase in radiative forcing means an increase in the temperature. It's
what causes a warming effect on our climate. Some of these gases, in
particular CO2, once it's released in the atmosphere, will stay there
for very, very long times, centuries, even longer. So even if we were
able to stop new emissions tomorrow, and we know it's not feasible, but
even if we were able to do that these greenhouse gases which have
already been sent in the atmosphere will continue to have an effect for
actually centuries."

 

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