Earth Equity News

World Carbon Emissions Up 38% Since the 1992 Launch of U.N. Climate Framework. By Dan Shapley, Daily Green, September 25, 2008. "Underscoring the magnitude of the challenge posed by global warming, new U.S. government data estimates that worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide have gone up 38% since 1992, when the United Nations agreed to a framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Kyoto Protocol, which industrialized nations other than the United States have agreed to adhere to, aims to reduce emissions in those countries 5% below 1990 levels by 2012. Ultimately, scientists have said the world needs to reduce its emissions by 50% or more below 1990 levels by mid-century to avert the worst consequences of global warming. And while the 38 Kyoto Protocol-constrained nations represented two-thirds of the world's emissions in 1992, they now represent less than half (47%), as developing nations -- primarily China and India -- have industrialized... Bottom line: The trends are going in the wrong direction."