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from the more-correllation-and-not-causation? dept.
Starting in 2007, carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. began dropping off and by 2013 had been cut by 11 percent.
Many have attributed the drop in CO2 to the switch from coal to natural gas to generate electricity, as natural gas production in the U.S. ramped up thanks to new fracking technologies. Even TreeHugger reported on a Harvard study that suggested a correlation between lower gas prices and a drop in CO2.
But a new study from researchers at the University of Maryland suggests that the economic recession was a bigger driver in the drop in carbon emissions. The study, published in Nature Communications, compares various factors that contributed to the decreased emissions.
...
The researchers found that the sharpest decline in CO2 happened during the worst of the recession, between 2007 and 2009. During that time, they calculate that 83 percent of the decrease is due to economic factors like consumption and production. As the economy started to recover after 2009, emission crept back up.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 24 2015, @12:30PM
Also, sorry for any confusion but I was looking for surface temperature. My understanding is that the core is thought to have little role there.