A study published in the journal Natural Geoscience shows something amazing - Worldwide carbon emissions DROPPED 1.3% from 2008 to 2009. The drop in emissions was much higher in some specific geographic areas like:
US - (6.9)%
Germany - (7)%
Russia - (8.4)%
UK - (8.6)%
Japan - (11)%
Certain parts of the world still saw dramatic increases in carbon emissions -
India - +6.8%
China - +8%
The drivers of the drop in emissions include efforts to reduce emissions, investment in "green" technology, a worldwide reduction in deforastation, and... get this... the global recession.
That's right, a poor economy is helping the earth. The lead author of the study confirmed that the drop in emissions was directly related to the global recession. "There is a close link between the world's gross domestic product and emissions of carbon dioxide," says Pierre Friedlingstein of the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.
As the world's economy recovers (for some) as expected, it is also expected that the growth of carbon emissions will again grow by more than 3% from 2009 to 2010.
So, finally we have a positive out of the bad economy. And if Washington doesn't act soon on the pending tax increases coming Jan 1, 2011, or the balooning federal debt, we could see the US carbon emissions drop again in the future. Good for tree huggers - Bad for everyone else.
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