Australian report: Carbon dioxide emission rates have doubled since 1990s
Pastor Dale Morgan
Australian report: Carbon dioxide emission rates have doubled since 1990s*
Updated 11/29/2006 11:42 AM ET
By Meraiah Foley, Associated Press Writer
SYDNEY, Australia — The rate at which humans are pumping carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere has more than doubled since the 1990s, according to
Australian research, the latest report warning about the high rate of
emissions accumulating in the atmosphere.
Findings published by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
Research Organization also showed that 2005 marked the
fourth-consecutive year of increased carbon dioxide emissions.
"To have four years in a row of above-average carbon dioxide growth is
unprecedented," Paul Fraser, a scientist with the CSIRO's center for
marine and atmospheric research, said in a statement.
The study analyzed a 30-year record of air samples collected at an
Australian Bureau of Meteorology observation station on the southern
island state of Tasmania.
Mike Raupach, a scientist with the organization, said from 2000 to 2005
the growth rate of carbon dioxide emissions was more than 2.5% per year,
whereas in the 1990s it was less than 1% per year.
Raupach, who is also co-chairman of the Global Carbon Project, said 7.85
billion tons of carbon passed into the atmosphere last year, compared to
6.67 billion tons in 2000.
About half of all carbon dioxide emissions remain trapped in the
atmosphere, and the rest are absorbed by the land and oceans, Raupach
said. As emissions rise, so does the amount of carbon in the air.
Earlier this month, the World Meteorological Organization reported the
level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached 379.1 parts per
million in 2005, more than 35% higher than in the late 18th century.
Raupach and Fraser presented their findings last week at an annual
science meeting at Tasmania's Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station.