Emissions of carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide equivalent continue to rise globally. Carbon dioxide equivalent is the modeled sum of CO2 and non-CO2 greenhouse gases including methane, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and others. It is a more complicated concept since the gases do not have equivalent behaviors or residence times in the atmosphere. Direct measurements of the gases in question are translated into warming potentials and so folded into modeling calculations.
The measurements show that declining absolute and per-capita emissions from the richer countries on earth show declining emissions in recent years which is overwhelmed by the developing world. Even as improvements in efficiency and renewable capacity provide some hope in the climate situation, the planet’s economic momentum tells the opposite story. Poor and developing countries point out rightly that they especially, in geographically disadvantaged positions, are paying the highest environmental and social tolls for the problem which the industrialized world created.
But it’s more than a problem of justice. It’s also an issue of human nature itself, of individuals’ and groups’ collective desires to improve their circumstances, in this case with economic tools of proven destructiveness. Albert Einstein’s famous quote can be applied perfectly here: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” The delusion that the planet can continue growing economically and commit itself to always-greater material prosperity is one of the greatest hurdles we face.
Tomorrow: global warming potentials.
Be brave, be steadfast, and be well.
Sources
Climate.gov
IPCC special report on 1.5-degree temperature rise, chap. 1
IPCC special report on 1.5-degree temperature rise, chap. 2
Our World in Data methods