One of the major drivers of the exceptional heat building within Earth’s atmosphere has reached levels beyond anything humans have ever experienced, officials announced on Thursday. Carbon dioxide, the gas that accounts for the majority of global warming caused by human activities, is accumulating “faster than ever,” scientists from NOAA, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of California San Diego found.
“Over the past year, we’ve experienced the hottest year on record, the hottest ocean temperatures on record, and a seemingly endless string of heat waves, droughts, floods, wildfires and storms,” NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said in a press release. “Now we are finding that atmospheric CO2 levels are increasing faster than ever.”
Luckily, the fossil fuel companies told us it isn’t anthropogenic and not to worry about this so we will be okay. /s
I’ve also been told that despite emitting close to a third of the world’s over all emissions, China produces less per capita than some developed countries so climate change is giving them a pass.
So that’s a third taken care of right there!
That’s the scapegoat argument from US industry and politicians. The only reason the US is second to China in carbon emissions is because of the excessive outsourcing of US manufacturing to China.
The US is responsible for the most carbon emissions worldwide.
Who controls the manufacturing processes in China? Who accepts the manufacturing contracts? Who controls their energy grid?
Gotta keep that finger pointed, huh? I’m American, and I’m fully aware of our massive contribution to carbon emissions, and the responsibility that puts on our industry and consumers to reduce and mitigate. Pointing fingers at China gives American industry a false benchmark for comparison.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-which-countries-are-historically-responsible-for-climate-change/
Implying that the US needs to not only retrofit their own grid but also China’s is nonsensical…
China has benefitted economically from their emissions, they are the second largest economy in the world. They’re not some backwater third-world country at this point, they can afford to take responsibility for getting their own emissions under control. They in fact must, because no one can afford to fix their problems for them.
Perhaps they could save on emissions by closing down some of their concentration camps.