Carbon Dioxide Emissions Reached All Time High in 2010

On May 30, the International Energy Agency (IEA) stated that global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) reached their highest level ever in 2010 , with the growth driven mainly by booming coal-reliant emerging economies. The agency also stated that 80 percent of the projected carbon emissions in 2020 will be “locked in” since they will be produced by power plants that are already running, or under construction. "This significant increase in CO2 emissions and the locking in of future emissions due to infrastructure investments represent a serious setback to our hopes of limiting the global rise in temperature to no more than 2.0 [degrees Celsius] (3.6 [degrees Fahrenheit])," said IEA chief economist Fatih Birol. According to scientists, if global temperatures rise over two degrees Celsius, the risk of severe climate change impacts, including flooding, storms, rising sea levels and species extinction, greatly increase. The UN climate talks, which will resume in Bonn on June 6, will focus on how to achieve the two degree Celsius target.

In related news, Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, stated that, "Two degrees is not enough- we should be thinking of 1.5 [degrees Celsius]. If we are not headed to 1.5 we are in big, big trouble." She said that the record emissions reported by IEA strengthens the need for urgent action on greenhouse gases.

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