U.N.: Global Warming Gases on Rise Again
Pastor Dale Morgan
Oct 30, 4:14 AM EST
*U.N.: Global Warming Gases on Rise Again*
BONN, Germany (AP) -- The industrialized world's emissions of greenhouse
gases are growing again, despite efforts under the Kyoto Protocol to cap
them and stave off global warming, the United Nations reported Monday.
Emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases declined in
the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet bloc and the shutdown of
polluting factories and power plants in eastern Europe. But now those
economies are rebounding, contributing to a 2.4 percent rise in
emissions by 41 industrialized nations between 2000 and 2004.
"This means that industrialized countries will need to intensify their
efforts to implement strong policies which reduce greenhouse gas
emissions," said Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. climate treaty
secretariat, referring to taxes on carbon-based fuels, energy-efficiency
regulations and other steps.
Scientists attribute a 1 degree Fahrenheit rise in global temperatures
in the last century in part to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in
the atmosphere, a trend they say will lead to climate disruptions.
Under the 1997 Kyoto accord, 35 industrialized nations have committed to
reducing emissions by an average 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
The United States, the biggest emitter, rejects the agreement.
Between 1990 and 2004, emissions of all industrialized countries
decreased by 3.3 percent, mostly because of a 36.8 percent decrease in
the former Soviet bloc, the U.N. reported. Since 2000, however, those
"economies in transition" have increased emissions by 4.1 percent.
Of the 41 industrialized nations, 34 increased emissions between 2000
and 2004, the U.N. reported. In the United States, source of two-fifths
of the industrialized world's greenhouse gases, emissions grew by 1.3
percent in that period, and by almost 16 percent between 1990 and 2004.
Among countries bound by Kyoto, Germany's emissions dropped 17 percent
between 1990 and 2004, Britain's by 14 percent and France's by almost 1
percent, the U.N. reported.
But Kyoto signatories such as Japan, Italy and Spain have registered
emissions increases since 1990. De Boer said such countries will have to
make extensive use of Kyoto's market-based programs, such as the Clean
Development Mechanism. That program allows northern nations to buy
credits from emission-reduction projects in the developing world, which
is not bound by Kyoto quotas.
The 41 nations defined as industrialized by the 1992 U.N. climate treaty
do not include fast-developing Third World countries like China and India.
On a positive note, the U.N. said the industrialized world is growing
more energy-efficient. Between 2000 and 2004, it said, it took 7 percent
less greenhouse gas to produce a dollar of gross domestic product.