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Hopes of controllin­g emissions dim, UN says

- Doyle Rice Contributi­ng: The Associated Press

Humanity’s reliance on fossil fuels shows few signs of letting up.

After three years of decline, the amount of carbon dioxide humans emitted increased in 2017, the United Nations announced in a report issued Tuesday. Although “humanity is starting to tackle its fossil fuel addiction ... we’re not making the change (to renewable energy) nearly as quickly as we need to,” said Joyce Msuya, deputy executive director of the U.N. Environmen­t Program, which released the report.

More troublesom­e, it said any hope of keeping global carbon emission levels under control in the decades ahead – to try to rein in runaway climate change – seems to be dwindling.

The U.N. warning comes four days after a massive report issued by the Trump administra­tion – but disputed by the president himself – that emphasized the dire threat humancause­d global warming poses to the USA and its citizens.

Tuesday’s report concerns what scientists and policymake­rs call the “emissions gap,” the difference between the amount of carbon dioxide emitted now and the drasticall­y lower levels needed to slow or stop global warming.

The U.N. report said that to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius

(2.7 Fahrenheit) this century, emissions need to drop by a whopping 55 percent by 2030, compared with 2017 levels. In

2017, the world emitted about 53.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide. To limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, annual emissions in 2030 would need to be 24 billion tons. The emissions gap is a jaw-dropping 29 billion tons.

“The message is clear: We need to make an almost existentia­l change. The solutions are there, and we have no excuse,” Msuya said.

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