Carbon Emissions, Consumption Straining the Earth

The world is fast approaching the point where it might no longer be able to avoid catastrophic climate change, according to a new report from the Worldwatch Institute.

In Vital Signs 2007 - 2008, a 146-page report released Thursday, Sept. 13, Worldwatch researchers examine 44 key trends regarding growing resource consumption, shrinking biodiversity, weather-related disasters and other issues. Their conclusion: that humans are stressing the Earth's natural systems close to the breaking point in multiple ways.

The report's authors singled out rising greenhouse gas emissions -- in particular, from the U.S., which emits 21 percent of the world's carbon output -- as one of the top stresses that needs to be addressed immediately.

"The world is running out of time to head off catastrophic climate change, and it is essential that Europe and the rest of the international community bring pressure to bear on U.S. policymakers to address the climate crisis," said Erik Assadourian, Vital Signs project director. "The United States must be held accountable for its emissions, double the per capita level in Europe, and should follow the EU (European Union) lead by committing to reducing its total greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050."

Worldwatch noted that Europe this summer was especially hard hit by natural disasters that could become more frequent as the Earth warms: deadly fires in Greece and the Canary Islands, widespread flooding in England and heat waves across the continent.

The Vital Signs report details numerous ways in which the globe's 6.6 billion -- and still growing -- human population is straining natural resources. In 2005, for example, world fossil-fuel emissions totaled 7.6 billion tons and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rose to 380 parts per million (at the start of the Industrial Age, the carbon dioxide concentration was 280 parts per million). In that same year, the report adds, more wood was taken from the world's forests than ever before.

Humans are also stretching the Earth's resources thin by their food consumption, the report finds. For instance, meat production reached a record 276 million tons (more than 94 pounds per person) in 2006. Rising meat consumption is also driving an increased demand for soybean for feed, and expanding soybean agriculture could displace more than 54 million acres of tropical forest and savanna in South America alone over the next two decades. And while many global fish stocks are declining, people are eating more seafood than ever before -- 156 million tons in 2004, or about three times more per person than in 1950.

While urging European leaders to put pressure on the U.S. to begin making drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, Assadourian noted that some countries are already investing in projects to prepare for a much-changed global climate.

"Canada is spending $3 billion to build eight new patrol boats to reinforce its claim over Arctic waterways. Denmark and Russia are starting to vie for control over the Lomonosov Ridge, where new sources of oil and natural gas could be accessed if the Arctic Circle becomes ice free-fossil fuels that will further exacerbate climate change," he said. "These actions assume that a warming world is here."

The Worldwatch Institute, "Window to Prevent Catastrophic Climate Change Closing." URL: (http://worldwatch.org/node/5340)