Heatwave and f loods fear as CO2 levels hit new high
EMISSIONS of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide have hit record highs this year, raising fears of more heatwaves and floods.
Figures show that CO2 emissions rose 2.7 per cent globally despite efforts to reduce them at home.
Critics said Britain’s efforts to become greener is putting itself at an economic disadvantage while most of the rest of the world is carrying on business as usual.
The study by the Global Carbon Project found that the UK, which is investing in renewable energy, is one of 19 countries where pollution has fallen in the past decade without a decrease in economic output. But this year emissions grew by 4.7 per cent in China, 2.5 per cent in the US and 6.3 per cent in India, the journals Nature, Earth System Science Data and Environmental Research Letters all reported.
Dr Benny Peiser, of Global Warming Policy Forum, said: “Britain is paying a heavy price for its unilateral policies whereas other countries are prioritising economic growth.”
The report was launched as negotiators from around the world met in Poland to plot how to meet the Paris Agreement to limit warming to “well below 2C” above preindustrial levels. The Met Office said that this year’s hot summer was made 30 times more likely by climate change.
Professor Peter Stott, from the Met Office and the University of Exeter, blamed it on “the increase in concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases”.
A separate study in Nature warned that the mile-thick Greenland ice sheet is melting at “unprecedented rates”.
Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven said: “We know the kind of world that we are heading towards – more floods, heatwaves, droughts and rising sea levels.”