Slowdown in rising greenhouse gases does not negate the long-term trend, finds global carbon budget analysts
This year’s rise in greenhouse gas emissions was smaller than in the last two years, but the continued increase means the world is still not on track to pursue the 1.5C goal of the Paris Agreement.
Emissions for 2019 will be 4% higher than those in 2015, the year that the Paris Agreement was adopted to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.
A new Global Carbon Budget report published this week, which NCAS’ Patrick McGuire contributed to, shows the increasing difficulty of that task.
Low-emission zones will improve air quality, but should not be the only measure to tackle air pollution says Professor Alastair Lewis
Low emission zones have been introduced to help cities to reduce the amount of air pollution being emitted in densely populated areas, with a primary focus on tackling emissions from road transport.
Cities have been granted the authority to create their own regulations in areas designated as low-emission zones. The idea is to reduce the number of polluting vehicles on our roads and encourage cleaner forms of transport in the city.
Rapid action needed to protect ozone layer against new source of illegal chemical emissions
Researchers from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science have assessed the impacts of a new source of an ozone-destroying chemical that poses a serious threat to the recovery of the ozone layer.
However, if rapid action is taken to curtail the illegal emissions then scientists are hopeful there will be no significant delay to the recovery of the ozone layer.