Carbon Emissions Up After Recession, CONTRAIL EMISSIONS

Global Emissions of CO2 have been up by 5.9 percent--largest percentage increase since 2003--in 2010 after dipping by 1.4 percent in 2009, according to a study released on December 4, 2011 by the Global Carbon Project. The 5.9% raise is tantamount to about half-a-billion ton of carbon, largest in absolute terms since the Industrial Revolution. In the U.S., the drop in carbon emission during the time of recession was a whopping 7 percent (2009), followed by a 4 percent jump in 2010. China, by far the largest emitter of CO2, had its carbon emissions growth of 10.4 percent in 2010 to 2.2 billion tons. CO2 emissions are usually measured by the weight of carbon they contain.

Contrails may be more Harmful than Carbon Dioxide, New Research Says

Contrails, those wispy white cloud ejecting from the jets flying at a high altitude, may look soothing and captivating to our eyes, but they are a serious pollutant to our atmosphere. The Dallas Morning News in a front-page article on December 11, 2022 has portrayed a research-driven picture on how the new domain of climate science related to contrails, formally known as "Effective Radiative Forcing", can play a more damaging role by trapping heat compared to carbon emissions. Contrails may have severe impact during night compared to the daytime. Contrails formed during night time are bad for environment as the earth cools down and emit heat, but contrails absorb it and prevent it from getting away. Contrails during day time may not be as bad as it absorbs sun light, thus helping cool the earth. Rocky Mountain Institute is conducting a comprehensive study on contrails.