Comparatively high natural gas prices would have led to an increase in coal-fired power generation by 17 percent.
(Photo: AP)
Washington According to scientists, 2021 was the fifth warmest year on record. In addition, more of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane were recorded in the atmosphere than ever before, as the researchers from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) of the European Union announced on Monday.
The past seven years were by far the warmest years since measurements began in 1850. The average global temperature in 2021 was 1.1 to 1.2 degrees Celsius above the level for the period from 1850 to 1900. The hottest years were 2020 and 2016.
Last summer was reportedly the hottest that Europe has ever seen. Scientists believe that climate change has exacerbated many of the extreme weather events of the past year, such as the forest fires in Siberia and the USA and floods in Europe, China and Sudan. Serious forest fires had broken out in Turkey, Greece and southern Italy. The highest temperature in Europe was measured in Sicily at 48.8 degrees Celsius.
More than 200 people died in floods in Western Europe. “These events are a clear reminder that we must change our behavior and take decisive and effective steps towards a sustainable society and work towards reducing carbon dioxide emissions,” said C3S Director Carlo Buontempo.
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According to the researchers, it remained unclear why the proportion of methane – a particularly powerful greenhouse gas – has skyrocketed in the past two years. The gas is produced, for example, in oil and gas production and in agriculture, but it also occurs in natural sources such as wetlands.
Natural gas prices are driving coal generation in the US
According to a research group, greenhouse gas emissions in the USA rose by 6.2 percent last year and are moving away from the climate targets set by President Joe Biden. The production of the climate-damaging gases grew faster than the economy recovered from the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report by the Rhodium Group published on Monday.
Comparatively high natural gas prices would have led to an increase in coal-fired power generation by 17 percent. In the energy sector and in transport, emissions have now reached two thirds of the values of 2019 and thus before the outbreak of the pandemic. The report assumed US economic growth of 5.7 percent in 2021.
As part of the Paris Climate Agreement, Biden wants to reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. Last year it was 17.4 percent below this mark. That is a deterioration compared to 2020, when the gap was already 22.2 percent.
The Democratic government is confronted with opposition, especially from Republicans, in terms of climate policy in Congress. In November, the entire House of Representatives and a third of the Senate will be re-elected.
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