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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday March 22 2017, @05:23PM   Printer-friendly
from the some-good-news dept.

2016 was the third year in a row that global carbon emissions remained stable, even as the overall economy grew. Although 32.1 Gigatonnes of emissions is certainly not good news for future climates, there is some cause for optimism within the numbers, as some major economies saw their emissions drop. And controlling emissions didn't come at the expense of the world's finances, as preliminary estimates show that the global economy grew by over three percent.

[...] China was one of those countries, starting up five new reactors to increase its nuclear capacity by 25 percent. Nuclear combined with renewables to handle two-thirds of the country's rising demand. China also shifted some of its fossil fuel use from coal to natural gas. The net result was a drop in emissions of about one percent, even as demand grew by over five percent (and the economy grew by nearly seven percent). Gas still represents a small fraction of China's energy economy, so there's the potential for further displacement of coal.

In the US, the process of shifting from coal to natural gas is already well advanced. Coal use was down by 11 percent last year, the IEA estimates, allowing natural gas to displace it as the US' largest single source of energy. This, along with booming renewables, allowed the US to drop its carbon emissions by three percent in 2016. That takes emissions to levels not seen since 1992, even though the economy is now 80 percent larger than it was then.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/03/global-carbon-emissions-continue-to-stabilize-us-has-3-drop/


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  • (Score: -1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 22 2017, @06:10PM (12 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 22 2017, @06:10PM (#482856)

    It's wrong to say CO2 is certainly bad. It will cause some warming. Warming will be bad for some people and good for others. There has not been an accurate accounting of the total. There is also "global greening" due to CO2 which is likely to be good for agriculture.

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  • (Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 22 2017, @06:58PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 22 2017, @06:58PM (#482892)

    The Australian coral reefs would like to have a word with you...

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by edIII on Wednesday March 22 2017, @08:40PM (3 children)

      by edIII (791) on Wednesday March 22 2017, @08:40PM (#482932)

      That there is the greatest evidence we have a problem. The oceans are acidifying. It's not a hard process to understand as basic high school chemistry teaches us about solubility of gases in liquids.

      It's likewise not hard to understand that, excepting mass die offs in our planetary history, mass bleaching of coral reefs can lead to a chain effect throughout the oceans. They serve vital roles in biodiversity and habitats.

      <sarcasm>Thank God we have Emperor Trump to tell us the truth beyond all that pesky science. The Chinese. Those fuckers creating the greatest fake news ever. Who cares about the reefs? Trump Tower is better than any reef.....</sarcasm>

      --
      Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 22 2017, @11:20PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 22 2017, @11:20PM (#482987)

        What? The sky is falling? Again? Quick, everybody, point fingers and blame people for not falling for it. It's all their fault. I prayed to Gaia today.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @04:00AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @04:00AM (#483073)

          No, the sky is not falling. In fact, the very opposite: the sea is rising.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @03:20PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @03:20PM (#483246)

        Hooray! You got your sarcastic comment about Trump in! Only 10 more to go for the daily quota! Of course this article has nothing to do with politics, but you inserted yours anyway.

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 22 2017, @07:08PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 22 2017, @07:08PM (#482896)

    It won't be just 'plant food' CO2 released, that is a deliberate red herring. It will be the wonderful mixture we colloquially call smog. Plants don't turn very green with smog, and it might taint the soil making it worthless for agriculture from that moment forward. Might want to freshen up your facts, they're going a little stale. Fortunately it seems that coal is on the way out, and you didn't have to raise a finger to do it. Consider yourself proud!

  • (Score: 2) by http on Wednesday March 22 2017, @08:44PM (4 children)

    by http (1920) on Wednesday March 22 2017, @08:44PM (#482934)

    Die in a fire. The rest of us will be along shortly, most likely of starvation, because we can't shift agriculture production and locations fast enough.

    --
    I browse at -1 when I have mod points. It's unsettling.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @03:03AM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @03:03AM (#483058)

      This is one thing about the free market that works very well. Huge amounts of land will become more useful. Look at a globe some time; cold regions have lots of land that just grows peat bogs and lichen. Canada and Russia are huge, even without a Mercator projection.

      If it is profitable to grow mangoes and coconuts in Canada and Russia, people will do it. If it is profitable to grow wheat and corn at the south pole, people will do it and we will redo the treaties to allow a country.

  • (Score: 2) by butthurt on Thursday March 23 2017, @09:56PM

    by butthurt (6141) on Thursday March 23 2017, @09:56PM (#483405) Journal

    > Warming will be bad for some people and good for others.

    It's certainly been a boon for Siberian ivory miners.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/8026187/Russia-digs-up-woolly-mammoth-remains-for-guilt-free-ivory.html [telegraph.co.uk]

    People whose enzymes function above 37 Celsius (let's call them homo thermophilus) may also benefit, if the warming isn't too great.