China Burns Much More Coal Than Thought, Complicates COP21

New York Times

BEIJING — China, the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases from coal, has been burning up to 17 percent more coal a year than the government previously disclosed, according to newly released data. The finding could complicate the already difficult efforts to limit global warming.

Even for a country of China’s size, the scale of the correction is immense. The sharp upward revision in official figures means that China has released much more carbon dioxide — almost a billion more tons a year according to initial calculations — than previously estimated.

The increase alone is greater than the whole German economy emits annually from fossil fuels.

Officials from around the world will have to come to grips with the new figures when they gather in Paris this month to negotiate an international framework for curtailing greenhouse-gas pollution. The data also pose a challenge for scientists who are trying to reduce China’s smog, which often bathes whole regions in acrid, unhealthy haze.

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8 Responses to China Burns Much More Coal Than Thought, Complicates COP21

  1. nhn December 26, 2015 at 1:50 am #

    coal should be aggressively phased out. 5 years max

    • Faggot Lips January 8, 2016 at 3:11 pm #

      So what about the underground coal fire that’s been burning under Centralia for 40+ years who is going to phase that out?

      • nhn January 8, 2016 at 4:30 pm #

        God or nature I suppose.

        • Faggot Lips January 10, 2016 at 9:54 am #

          You’re mumma!!!

        • Faggot Lips February 7, 2016 at 5:49 pm #

          Probably some faggot lit it!!!

        • Faggot Lips August 30, 2016 at 11:43 pm #

          I’ll just piss on it!!!

      • old guy February 9, 2019 at 10:38 pm #

        We could use the EPA’S available cleanupfunds to stop it.

  2. old guy February 9, 2019 at 10:34 pm #

    The problem is NOT CO2, but SO2. 50 years ago.a team that I was working with, solved the “ACID RAIN” problem by identifying that the Sulphur components in the smoke, combining with the H2O in clouds formed H2SO3 and H2SO4.(acid rain). Desulphurred coal and stack precipitators were the sol;ution

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