FACTBOX: Global carbon emissions soar

(Reuters) - Global carbon emissions are rising rapidly, an international study says, with production of carbon dioxide in 2007 up sharply from the year before through the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and cement making. Following are highlights from the Global Carbon Project's 2008 report "Carbon budget and trends 2007." The project is a program supported by the International Council for Science. CARBON DIOXIDE GROWTH Annual mean growth rate of atmospheric CO2 was 2.2 parts per million per year in 2007, up from 1.8 ppm in 2006, and above the 2.0 ppm average for the period 2000-2007. The average annual mean growth rate for the previous 20 years was about 1.5 ppm per year. Atmospheric CO2 concentration rose to 383 ppm in 2007, which is 37 percent above the concentration at the start of the industrial revolution of about 280 ppm in 1750. The present concentration is the highest during the past 650,000 years and probably during the past 20 million years. The growth rate of emissions was 3.5 percent per year for the period of 2000-2007, an almost four-fold increase from 0.9 percent per year in 1990-1999. SOURCES OF EMISSIONS The biggest increase in emissions has occurred in developing countries, mainly China and India, while developed countries have been growing slowly. Currently, more than half of global emissions come from less developed countries. From a historical perspective, developing countries with 80 percent of the world's population still account for only 20 percent of the cumulative emissions since 1751; the poorest countries in the world, with 800 million people, have contributed less than 1 percent of these cumulative emissions. EMISSIONS FROM DEFORESTATION Emissions from changes in land use come almost exclusively from deforestation in tropical countries, with an estimated 41 percent from South and Central America, 43 percent from South and Southeast Asia, and 17 percent from Africa. NATURAL CARBON SINKS Natural land and ocean CO2 sinks have removed 54 percent of all CO2 emitted from human activities during 2000-2007. The size of the natural sinks has grown in proportion to increasing atmospheric CO2. However, the efficiency of these sinks in removing CO2 has decreased by 5 percent over the past 50 years, and will continue to do so in the future. That is, 50 years ago, for every tonne of CO2 emitted to the atmosphere, natural sinks removed 600 kg. Currently, the sinks are removing 550 kg for every tonne of CO2 emitted, and this amount is falling. Source: Global Carbon Project (www.globalcarbonproject.com) (Editing by Paul Tait) ʘ