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Article

19 Sep 2017

Author:
B. Ekwurzel, J. Boneham, M.W. Dalton, R. Heede, R.J. Mera, M.R. Allen, P.C. Frumhoff, Climatic Change

The rise in global atmospheric CO2, surface temperature, and sea level from emissions traced to major carbon producers

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Researchers have quantified the contributions of industrialized and developing nations’ historical emissions to global surface temperature rise. Recent findings that nearly two-thirds of total industrial CO2 and CH4 emissions can be traced to 90 major industrial carbon producers have drawn attention to their potential climate responsibilities.. Here we use a simple climate model to quantify the contribution of historical (1880–2010) and recent (1980–2010) emissions traced to these producers to the historical rise in global atmospheric CO2, surface temperature, and sea level... Emissions traced to seven investor-owned and seven majority state-owned carbon producers were consistently among the top 20 largest individual company contributors to each global impact across both time periods. This study lays the groundwork for tracing emissions sourced from industrial carbon producers to specific climate impacts and furthers scientific and policy consideration of their historical responsibilities for climate change.

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