Puffing away

The world pumped about 564m more tons (512m metric tons) of carbon into the air in 2010 than it did in 2009, an increase of 6%, according to the US department of energy.

That amount of extra pollution eclipses the individual emissions of all but three countries, China, the US and India, the world's top producers of greenhouse gases. Extra pollution in China and the US account for more than half the increase in emissions last year.

In 2010 people were travelling more, and manufacturing was back up worldwide, spurring the use of fossil fuels, and hence emissions.

In 2007, when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its last large report on global warming, it used different scenarios for carbon dioxide pollution and said the rate of warming would be based on the rate of pollution. But the latest figures put global emissions higher than the worst case projections from the climate panel.

There is something 'good' in recent emissions figures. The developed countries that ratified the 1997 Kyoto Protocol greenhouse gas limiting treaty have reduced their emissions overall since then and have achieved their goals of cutting emissions to about 8% below 1990 levels. In 1990, developed countries produced about 60% of the world's greenhouse gases, now it's probably less than 50%.

Well, Durban is to happen and will it rove just another exercise in 'shadow-boxing'? Just another mega event that produces its own emissions?!