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Getting warmer

  • 30/05/1997

More than 80 per cent of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are caused by industrial activity - burning of fossil fuels, such as oil, gas and coal, and cement manufacturing, which creates CO2 during limestone processing. Industrial emissions of CO2 have more than tripled in the past 40 years, prompting fears of increased global warming. Carbon dioxide accounts for almost 55 per cent of the greenhouse gases - gases responsible for trapping heat inside the atmosphere. The annual per person emission had to be at or below 1.69 metric tonnes, based on the 1990 world population of 5.3 billion, to prevent additional CO2 buildup in the atmosphere. By 2025 that level would have to be between 1.18 and 1.05, depending on population growth.

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