Research suggests fossil-fuel emissions have risen sharply

According to a statement, the analysis by the Global Carbon Project shows fossil-fuel emissions increased by 5.9 per cent in 2010 and by 49 per cent since 1990.

On average, fossil-fuel emissions are said to have risen by 3.1 per cent each year between 2000 and 2010, which is three times the rate of increase during the 1990s. They are projected to continue to increase by 3.1 per cent in 2011.

Total emissions — which combine fossil-fuel combustion, cement production, deforestation and other land-use emissions — reached 10 billion tonnes of carbon in 2010 for the first time.

Half of the emissions are said to have remained in the atmosphere, where CO₂ concentration reached 389.6 parts per million. The remaining emissions were taken up by the ocean and land reservoirs, in approximately equal proportions.

Rebounding from the global financial crisis of 2008–09, when emissions temporarily decreased, last year’s high growth was caused by emerging and developed economies. Rich countries continued to outsource part of their emissions to emerging economies through international trade.