(NaturalNews) Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide have risen 35 percent faster since 2000 than scientists had predicted, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research was carried out by the Global Carbon Project, British Antarctic Survey and University of East Anglia, England.
According to lead researcher Pep Canadell, executive director of the Global Carbon Project, global economic growth combined with a less carbon-efficient economy accounted for a 17 percent increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. The other 18 percent -- more than half the change -- came from the planet's decreased ability to re-absorb emitted carbon.
"What we are seeing is a decrease in the planet's ability to absorb carbon emissions due to human activity," Canadell said. "Fifty years ago, for every tonne [1,000 kilograms] of carbon dioxide emitted, 600 kilograms were removed by land and ocean sinks. However, in 2006, only 550 kilograms were removed per tonne and that amount is falling."
After becoming less carbon intensive for 30 years, the global economy started to become more carbon intense again in 2000. By 2006, global carbon dioxide emissions had reached 9.9 billion tons annually, 35 percent above the 1990 levels used as a benchmark in the Kyoto Protocol.
Plants and many microorganisms absorb carbon dioxide from the air, using it in much the same way that animals use oxygen. But as these life forms die off, the planet's ability to filter out the gas is reduced.
Researchers believe that changing ocean wind patterns and droughts on land have contributed to this problem. "We found that nearly half of the decline in the efficiency of the ocean carbon dioxide sink is due to the intensification of the winds in the Southern Ocean," said co-author Corinne Le Quere of the British Antarctic Survey.
"The decline in global sink efficiency suggests that stabilization of atmospheric carbon dioxide is even more difficult to achieve than previously thought."
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