The greenhouse gas problem is nothing new, and you might think we've begun to at least slow our increasing carbon dioxide emissions. However, a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences discloses more inconvenient truth.
In 2006, global carbon dioxide emissions resulted in a release of 9.9-billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere; 35-percent higher than the 1990 carbon emissions. In the atmosphere, carbon concentrations are now increasing at a rate of 1.93 parts per million (ppm) each year. This is the highest rate of increase since carbon monitoring activities began in 1959. The current rate of annual increase is considerably higher than the 1.58-ppm average for the 1980s and the 1.49 ppm for the 1990s.
Dr. Pep Canadell, the study's lead author and the Executive Director of the Global Carbon Project, explains that emission rates have likely risen as a result of the increase in global population and wealth. We have yet to find a way to increase increase global wealth without increasing carbon emissions rates. In addition, there has been a slowing of the effectiveness of global carbon-absorbing systems, such as rainforests and oceans. link
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