“Emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide from fossil fuels hit a record high in 2019, researchers said Tuesday, putting countries farther off course from their goal of halting global warming”.

Is there any “good” news?

“The United States and the European Union both managed to cut their carbon dioxide output this year, while India’s emissions grew far more slowly than expected”.

Or if we’re slightly desperate:

“And global emissions from coal, the worst-polluting of all fossil fuels, unexpectedly declined by about 0.9 percent in 2019, although that drop was more than offset by strong growth in the use of oil and natural gas around the world”.

Quite why Australia needs a new coal mine that doesn’t even go online for another year is beyond me.

Fun fact of the day: the US still pumps out 14% of global CO2 with only 4% of the population.

And in case you missed it, here’s the plot of the dates of the previous 24 UN Climate Summits against atmospheric CO2 concentration:

And another jewel hot off the press: European shipping emissions (container and cruise ships) are not included in Europe’s carbon reduction calculations!

And are equivalent to around 1/4 the total emissions from cars in Europe.

If these examples of collective delusion don’t get you down you’re a stronger person than me.

[Cover photo credit: Brandon Thibodeaux for The New York Times]