Environment & Climate

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the main contributor to climate change. In 2013, the global combustion of fossil fuels and the production of cement resulted in the emission of 36.1 billion tons of CO2, which was 61 percent over 1990 levels. (In terms of carbon, the emissions totaled 9.8 billion tons in 2013.) According to the most recent estimates, emissions in 2014 are projected to be 2.5 percent over 2013 levels. In physical terms, this translates into the release of 37 billion additional tons of CO2 in the atmosphere. It is estimated that to keep the rate of Earth's warming below the 2 degrees Celsius threshold believed to be the temperature increase that will have severe and irreversible global environmental effects, total future emissions cannot exceed 1,200 billion tons.

In 2012, there were 905 natural catastrophes worldwide—and 93 percent of these events were weather-related disasters. This figure was about 100 above the 10-year annual average of 800 natural catastrophes. In terms of overall and insured losses ($170 billion and $70 billion, respectively), 2012 did not follow the records set in 2011 and could be defined as a moderate year on a global scale. But the United States was seriously affected by weather extremes: it accounted for 69 percent of overall losses and 92 percent of insured losses due to natural catastrophes worldwide.

During 2011, a total of 820 natural catastrophes were documented, a decrease of 15 percent from the 970 events registered in 2010. But the 2011 figure is in line with the average of 790 events during 2001–10 and is considerably above the average of 630 events during 1981–2010.

Between 2008 and 2009, the volume of global carbon transactions increased 80 percent, reaching 8.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide–equivalent (CO2e).

Species classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as "threatened" increased by 2.1 percent in 2009, as 365 species were added to the organization's Red List of Threatened Species.

Nearly 200 billion liters of bottled water were consumed worldwide in 2008.

Water scarcity grows in urgency in many regions as population growth, climate change, pollution, lack of investment, and management failures restrict the amount of water available relative to demand.

The areas of the world that are officially protected—national parks and the like—grew by some 26 percent between 1997 and 2007, roughly one third as fast as during the preceding 10 years, when the rate topped 75 percent.

In 2007, there were 874 weather-related disas­ters worldwide, a 13-percent increase over 2006 and the highest number since the systematic recording of natural perils began in 1974.