Greenhouse Gas Emissions Projection Staggering
Global warming is an issue pertaining to the world, and is as a result of human interferences and activities. It has not only put the world at risk of a complete ‘meltdown’ of the ice at the poles, but also is destroying the very atmosphere which helps us breathe. Car emissions, burning of fossil fuels, volcanic eruptions, forest fires, all contribute to the increasing amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a global catastrophe which the world is trying to cope with. The number of laws set and agreed upon by many a nation, wasn’t signed by USA, the largest polluter in the world, leading to a steady rise in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) over the past few years. Let’s find out what led to this rapid rise in GHG over the last few years in USA.
Greenhouse gases are atmospheric gases, both natural and anthropogenic, which emit and absorb radiation of the infrared radiation emitted by the sun and reflected by the clouds. This cycle is known as the greenhouse effect. When anthropogenic gases like pollutants are released into the atmosphere, they can trap radiation, resulting in a heating up of the atmosphere. This process causes global warming.
According to the report released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) in 2007, total US greenhouse gas emissions have increased 1.4 percent from the level in 2006, that is, the carbon dioxide equivalent was 7,282 million metric tons. The report had calculated that over the past decade and a half, the emissions have risen at an average annual rate of 0.9 percent. The report mentions the carbon intensity values as well, which are calculated against GHG emissions per unit of GDP. The GHG dropped considerably from 636 metric tons/million dollars (MMTCO2e/million dollars GDP) to 632 MMTCO2e/million dollars GDP in 2007, a decline of 0.6 percent. Average GHG intensity declines have been 1.9 percent annually since 1990, the report states…
The EIA report specified the total estimated US GHG emission in 2007 at around 6,022 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, about 82.6 percent of total emissions, 9.6 percent of methane, 5.3 percent of nitrous oxide and around 2.4 percent of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). The HFC, PFC and SF6 emissions, also called the “high-GWP gases” because of their ability to absorb and trap heat, rose by 3.3% in 2007.
The CO2 levels emanating from industrial and energy consumption processes rose by an average annual rate of 1.1 percent per year between 1990 and 2006 and increased by 1.3 percent by 2007, the EIA reported. Authorities blamed the varying weather patterns which had led to over consumption of energy, which had resulted in this rise, since there was a lack of hydro electric power, which meant higher carbon dioxide emissions! Methane emissions increased as well, as a result, by 1.9 percent, while nitrous oxide levels in the atmosphere shot up by 2.2 percent above average normal levels.
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