The main cause of global warming this year will exceed a historical maximum of 40,000 million tons , which represents an increase of 2.5% compared to the previous measurement, according to the “Global Carbon Project”, led by researchers from the Center Tyndall for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia and the Faculty of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences at the University of Exeter (UK).
Scientists are convinced that the only way to fight this unstoppable rise is to leave untapped more than 50% of all fossil fuel reserves that exist today.
“The human influence on climate change is clear. We need substantial and sustained reductions in CO2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels if we want to limit global climate change. We are nowhere near the commitments needed to keep climate change below 2 ° C , a level that will already be difficult to achieve for most countries around the world, even for rich nations, ”says Corinne Le Quéré, co-author of the study published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
According to experts, if humanity continues without changing its customs and its exploitation of fossil fuels one iota, we will reach the limit in just 30 years , at which time it would be impossible to keep global warming below the key level of 2ºC.
“The time for a quiet evolution in our attitudes towards climate change is over. Delaying action is not an option, we have to act together and do it quickly , if we want to have a chance to prevent climate change from lingering for a long time in the future, ”says study leader Pierre Friedlingstein.
CO2 emissions into the atmosphere are mainly caused by the burning of fossil fuels, cement production and, last but not least, deforestation (it represents 8% of CO2 emissions ).
