Chinese coal fuels rise in carbon emissions
SWITZERLAND: Global carbon dioxide emissions are rising again, ending hopes that pollution had reached a peak.
The projected 2 per cent increase this year is being driven partly by more coal burning in China, according to research by Britain’s University of East Anglia (UEA).
China’s emissions are forecast to rise by 3.5 per cent this year because of stronger growth in industrial production and lower hydro power generation after less rainfall.
India’s emissions are expected to rise by 2 per cent, although the annual rise has fallen from an average of more than 6 per cent in the past decade.
CO2 emissions in the United States are expected to decline by 0.4 per cent and in the European Union by 0.2 per cent, smaller declines than during the previous decade.
The figures were published in the journal Nature Climate Change as delegates from 195 countries met at the United Nations climate change conference in the German city of Bonn.
Professor Corinne Le Quere, the lead author and director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at UEA, said: ‘‘Global CO2 emissions appear to be going up strongly once again, after a three-year stable period. This is very disappointing.
‘‘With global CO2 emissions from human activities estimated at 41 billion tonnes for 2017, time is running out on our ability to keep warming well below 2C, let alone 1.5C.
‘‘This year we have seen how climate change can amplify the impacts of hurricanes, with more intense rainfall, higher sea levels and warmer ocean conditions favouring more powerful storms. This is a window into the future. We need to reach a peak in global emissions in the next few years and drive emissions down rapidly afterwards.’’
Renewable energy had increased by 14 per cent a year over the past five years, the report said. In further grounds for optimism, 22 countries managed to expand their economies while cutting emissions.
Dave Reay, professor of carbon management at the University of Edinburgh, said: ‘‘ More renewables, energy efficiency and forest protection are all helping to keep the global carbon debt in check, but balancing the books will require far greater contributions from the world’s nations.’’
Andrew Watson, a professor at the University of Exeter, said: ‘‘There continues to be grounds for optimism. Emissions have not peaked yet, but they are definitely levelling out, despite increasing global economic activity. This is a hopeful sign.’’
A separate report published yesterday found that a quarter of the 241 UN-listed natural world heritage sites were at risk from climate change.
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and the Belize Barrier Reef are threatened by mass bleaching of corals caused by increases in water temperature, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Retreating glaciers threaten Kilimanjaro National Park in Africa and the Jungfrau-Aletsch in the Swiss Alps.
The Everglades National Park in Florida and Lake Turkana in Kenya are on the union’s ‘‘critical list’’ of the most threatened world heritage sites.– The Times
WikiLeaks link revealed
US President Donald Trump’s eldest son exchanged private messages with WikiLeaks during the election campaign at the same time the website was publishing hacked emails from Democratic officials, according to correspondence made public yesterday. Donald Trump Jr did not respond to many of the notes, but he alerted senior advisers on his father’s campaign, including his brother-in-law, Jared Kushner, according to two people familiar with the exchanges. In the messages, WikiLeaks urged Trump Jr to promote its trove of hacked Democratic emails, and suggested that Donald Trump challenge the election result if he did not win.
LOTR coming to small screen
Amazon has bought the global television rights to The Lord of the Rings, in what may be its biggest and most expensive move yet to draw viewers to its streaming and shopping club Prime. Amazon announced yesterday it will produce a multi-season series that explores new storylines preceding author J R R Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, the first instalment in the famed fantasy trilogy. Amazon acquired the rights from the Tolkien Estate and Trust but did not say how much it paid for them. The project underscores a shift in Amazon’s video programming. It is looking for a dramatic show that could be a hit globally, much like HBO’s fantasy series Game of Thrones. This puts the company in uncharted territory, with higher production costs expected.
Defecting soldier wounded
A North Korean soldier was shot and wounded by his own side as he fled to South Korea in a rare defection across the tense border. The unidentified man is being treated in a military hospital after being shot in the shoulder and elbow as he made a desperate sprint in Panmunjom, the only part of the border that remains free of barbed wire fences and landmines. In another section of the border, an American man was arrested by South Korean police for apparently preparing to enter North Korea for ‘‘political purposes’’. He was said to be 58 and from Louisiana. North Korean authorities have made no comment on the incidents, but the South’s level of military alert has been raised as a precaution.