Posted on 04/25/2007 11:07:25 AM PDT by blam
China's emissions to surpass the US within months
18:20 25 April 2007
NewScientist.com news service
Catherine Brahic
China may become the world's greatest emitter of greenhouse gases before the end of 2007, says the International Energy Agency's chief economist. But that, he told New Scientist, is not the most worrying forecast.
"The major issue for me is the long-term prospect. By 2030, emissions from China will be growing twice as fast as emissions from all of the OECD countries combined," Fatih Birol told New Scientist, referring to the world-leading economies that belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Birol's prediction that China may surpass the US this year brings forward the International Energy Agency's 2006 prediction that the Asian giant would become the lead emitter in 2009.
He says the change is due to China's astonishing economic growth which, in 2006 and 2007, has surpassed even the Chinese government's predictions. Since 2006, the Chinese gross domestic product has grown 11%, says Birol. China's official aim, set out in its 11th Five-Year Plan, covering 2006 to 2010, is to grow at 7.5% per year.
"All these numbers point in one direction," Birol told New Scientist. "The very next international architecture which will address climate change issues must undertake bold initiatives to bring China and India onboard."
Political pressure
However, Gao Guangsheng, head of China's Office of the National Coordination Committee for Climate Change, said on Wednesday that Birol's prediction did not have a concrete statistical basis.
"For some international organisations to reach the conclusion that China's carbon dioxide emissions are about to surpass the United States' is not only irresponsible, but is also being used to apply pressure on the Chinese government," he told reporters at the Oriental Morning Post.
(Excerpt) Read more at environment.newscientist.com ...
It’s troubling that China’s emissions will grow. Can we realistically cut back enough, even if we do everything Al Gore wants us to do, to compensate for China?
It’s troubling that China’s emissions will grow. Can we realistically cut back enough, even if we do everything Al Gore wants us to do, to compensate for China?
This is excellent!
We can send our moonbats over there to protest.
They can also enjoy their Utopian socialism while there.
It’s what they really want right?
It’s a win-win.
Will Gore move to China?????!!!!!
It is obvious that over a Billion Chinese are going to consume more eventually than big bad America.
So we have to pay while Red Commie China plays?
bullcrap!!
That charts shows “Tonnes Per Capita”......so if we had more “Capitas” we could lower our rating...........SO That’s what the amnesty is all about!.......
Funny, those 'irresponisble' conclusions were never criticized by the Chinese when they said the US was the world's biggest 'polluter'. In fact, China was quite proud to point the finger at the US.
Of course, this was not their way of showing real concern for the health of the planet, it is instead their way of cursing the US. Now that China is catching up to us in several of the left’s own metrics, does anyone really think the left will shift their complaint away from the US and towards China?
Repeat after me - carbon dioxide is *not* a pollutant.
That's a good point, and explains why there's a large brown cloud that originates over China and wafts over the world.
China has a population of 1.3 billion, the U.S. has a population of 300 million, but the land areas of the two countries are roughly equal.*
A chart showing "tonnes per square kilometer" would be interesting -- China would have 4 times the amount of CO2 emissions as the U.S.*
* Note: my back-of-the-envelope calculations didn't involve legitimate research.
That ‘tonnes per capita’ chart is severely out of date wrt China. If the US stayed constant at 20, then China would have to be approaching 5 now.
We gotta build some humongus fans and blow it back.
Good point....If we allow 100 million illegals in, we can reduce our per capita output by 33%!
We consume so much of the resources because we are the most PRODUCTIVE nation in the world. Much of our resource consumption is exported. They make it look like we are wasting everything. We are the worlds foremost producers of almost everything the world wants and needs.
You are correct, but those who lodge the complaint don’t care, because any whine that advances their story-line is good enough for them.
Cute that they base it on population, rather than productivity. By that logic, Bangladesh (which is approximately the size of Iowa) can pollute as much as half of the US (160 million population compared to our 320 million). Yep, THAT will really benefit the globe!
Making that “per sq km” chart even more interesting, almost all of China’s production takes place in the eastern quarter (near the coast). Their pollution is really concentrated in those provinces. (Tibet ain’t exactly choking on the “dust”.)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.