Global carbon emissions jump, scientists say

KATOWICE, Poland (APTN/NBC) – After several years of little growth, global emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide took a big jump this year, discouraged scientists announced Wednesday.

The biggest global increase of greenhouse gases in seven years was revealed while diplomats met at the COP-24 U.N. Climate Conference in Poland.

Representatives from almost 200 countries have gathered to work out how to meet the targets laid out in the 2015 Paris Agreement, but scientists say the latest figures put some of the goals nearly out of reach.

Projections show world carbon emissions increased 2.7% from 2017 to 2018, according to three studies from the global carbon project, an international scientific collaboration of academics, governments and industry that tracks emissions of greenhouse gases.

The studies found that this year the world is spewing almost 41 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year, more than a billion-ton increase from last year.

The margin of error is about one percentage point on either side.

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