Scientific American reported that global carbon emissions will hit an all-time high in 2019, eclipsing the record set in 2018. According to a report from the Global Carbon Project, an international research consortium that is tracking greenhouse gases, emissions from industrial activities and the burning of fossil fuels will pump an estimated 36.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. And total carbon emissions from all human activities, including agriculture and land use, will likely cap off at about 43.1 billion tons.
The Global Carbon Project’s estimate reflects a 0.6% increase in the world’s fossil fuel emissions for 2019, representing their “preliminary” estimate, so the number is not final. However, despite the jump from 2018, this number is a conservative estimate reflecting a lower growth rate for emissions than seen in previous years. It is not clear if the slowing growth of emissions will continue in the long term. Other recent short-term trends have sparked temporary optimism, only to quickly reverse themselves.
Between 2014 and 2016, global carbon emissions remained mostly flat, raising hopes the world’s carbon output may have peaked for good. But emissions began to rise again in 2017 and have continued growing through 2019.
Read more at Scientific American, "CO2 Emissions Will Break Another Record in 2019."
