5.3 Carbon-Based Economies Will Eventually Prove Cataclysmic
155
1750
1770
1790
1810
1830
1850
1870
1890
1910
1930
1950
1970
1990
2010
2030
Fig. 5.4 Decadal Changes in carbon dioxide concentration (parts per million by volume) between
1750 and 2019 (Source Compiled from Brown (2013) and Website https://www.climate.gov/newsfeatures/understandingclimate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dio)
CO2 Emissions (Million Tons Carbon), 2006
CO2 Emissions (Million Tons Carbon), 2020
Total Coal
Total Oil
Total Gas
Total CO2
Emissions
3,055
2,875
1,505
7,435
4,139
3,518
2,036
9,693
Fig. 5.5 CO 2 emission (Source Compiled from Brown 2003, 2013; and IPCC 2007)
5.3 Carbon-Based Economies Will Eventually Prove
Cataclysmic
Why is it that despite having irrefutable scientific evidences of climate change and its
consequences, we have achieved very little so far. One argument is that it is not in the
interest of any one country to reduce emissions if others do not follow. Presently, the
world is divided between two broad groups of nations: The industrialized and rich
developed countries that have generated insurmountable quantities of GHGs in the
past and currently have the technology and money to switchover to renewable sources
of energy. Past few decades have witnessed some sensitivity by these advanced
countries toward climate change mitigation, and appreciable actions have been taken
in this direction including large-scale generation of renewable energy, introduction of
155
1750
1770
1790
1810
1830
1850
1870
1890
1910
1930
1950
1970
1990
2010
2030
Fig. 5.4 Decadal Changes in carbon dioxide concentration (parts per million by volume) between
1750 and 2019 (Source Compiled from Brown (2013) and Website https://www.climate.gov/newsfeatures/understandingclimate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dio)
CO2 Emissions (Million Tons Carbon), 2006
CO2 Emissions (Million Tons Carbon), 2020
Total Coal
Total Oil
Total Gas
Total CO2
Emissions
3,055
2,875
1,505
7,435
4,139
3,518
2,036
9,693
Fig. 5.5 CO 2 emission (Source Compiled from Brown 2003, 2013; and IPCC 2007)
5.3 Carbon-Based Economies Will Eventually Prove
Cataclysmic
Why is it that despite having irrefutable scientific evidences of climate change and its
consequences, we have achieved very little so far. One argument is that it is not in the
interest of any one country to reduce emissions if others do not follow. Presently, the
world is divided between two broad groups of nations: The industrialized and rich
developed countries that have generated insurmountable quantities of GHGs in the
past and currently have the technology and money to switchover to renewable sources
of energy. Past few decades have witnessed some sensitivity by these advanced
countries toward climate change mitigation, and appreciable actions have been taken
in this direction including large-scale generation of renewable energy, introduction of