Eloise Gibson writes about a recent report which suggests that, while the global recession did impact greenhouse gas emissions a little, the effect was not significant.
Indeed, the report suggests that as economies recover, so too will emissions, with the worry being the the earth’s natural carbon sinks could be overloaded if emissions continue to rise.
An excerpt: (read in full here)
“The study follows a global carbon project study which found there had been a 29 per cent increase in global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel between 2000 and 2008.
“The authors of that study suggested that also more man-made CO2 might be staying in the atmosphere because natural “carbon sinks” were struggling to keep up – possibly because of rising global temperatures.
“About half of carbon dioxide emissions each year are absorbed by plants and the ocean but there is some evidence these sinks may be slowing in their ability to suck up carbon – though New Zealand scientists last week stressed it was too early to tell.”