Commentary

A study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (the math-phobic beware) shows that carbon dioxide emissions increased at a 3% annual rate from 2000-2004.

This is sobering news in the midst of a string of positive developments in the fight against global warming.

According to the study the cause of the acceleration in carbon emissions is a combination of economic growth and population growth.  Of particular concern is the fact that the increase was higher than predicted given the increases in global gross domestic product.  Evidently, businesses are emitting more carbon per unit of production than they were in the 1990’s. 

Surprisingly, no countries showed any improvement in their reliance on carbon dioxide emitting energy sources including the European Union and Japan.

Let’s hope that when we look at the period post 2004 that the many global warming efforts taken around the world will start to push the needle in the right direction.