global pollution

Post-COVID Emissions Rebound | Earth Wise

May 28, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The extensive shutdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in reduced activity across many sectors of the global economy. As a result, global pollution and greenhouse gas emissions also saw lower levels. As the COVID crisis lessens, an economic recovery is growing and as that occurs, emissions are on the rise.

The International Energy Agency forecasts that energy-related carbon dioxide emissions are projected to increase by 1.5 billion tons this year, the second-largest increase in history.

The emissions increase in 2021 is expected to be nearly 5%, reversing most of last year’s emissions decline caused by the pandemic. This would be the largest annual rise since the 2010 recovery from the global financial crisis. In many places across the globe, people are making up for lost time and doing more of all the things that cause carbon emissions.

A key driver of the emissions increase is a rise in coal use. The forecast is that coal-burning in 2021 would come close to the all-time peak of 2014. Both natural gas and oil use are also expected to increase this year. These increases are in spite of a predicted 17% increase in electricity generation from wind power and an 18% increase in solar-power generation.

Atmospheric concentrations of CO2 are now at 417 parts per million and have increased by 3 PPM in the past year. If human CO2 emissions are not reined in, atmospheric concentrations of planet-warming greenhouse gases could double those of pre-Industrial levels by mid-century, which would have disastrous impacts on the climate.

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Global CO2 Emissions Set to Surge in 2021 in Post-Covid Economic Rebound

Photo, posted October 22, 2020, courtesy of Hospital Clínic Barcelona via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Cost of Cleaning Up Ocean Plastic | Earth Wise

October 7, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Small island developing states increasingly find themselves with large amounts of plastic waste. A recent study looked at the financial cost for removing it.

Aldabra Atoll is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Seychelles. It is the world’s second-largest coral atoll and is the home of 307 species of animals and plants, including the largest population of giant tortoises in the world. Aldabra has been called one of the wonders of the world and one of the crown jewels of the Indian Ocean.

Last year, a team from the University of Oxford and the Seychelles Island Foundation, spent five weeks removing litter that had washed up on Aldabra’s shores. In total, they removed 25 tons of plastic litter which, to their surprise, was dominated by waste from the fishing industry. The researchers now estimate that over 500 tons of litter remain on the island, 83% of which consists of buoys, ropes, nets, and, of all things, over 300,000 individual flipflops. This is the largest accumulation of plastic waste reported for any single island in the world.

According to the study, the cost to clean up the entire island would be nearly $5 million, requiring 18,000 person-hours of labor. A project of this magnitude is beyond the capacity of non-profit organizations like the Seychelles Islands Foundation.

The plastic pollution in Aldabra is related to the fishing industry in Seychelles, which provides tuna to high-income markets around the world. The research highlights how even remote highly protected island ecosystems are impacted by global pollution and how difficult and costly it is to remedy.

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Millions of dollars to clean up tuna nets and flip flops from island state

Photo, posted December 27, 2016, courtesy of David Stanley via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.