Year 2014 recorded highest anthropogenic carbon release in past 66 million years

The year 2014 recorded highest anthropogenic carbon released in past 66 million years. It was revealed by the scientists of the University of Hawaii in an article on 21 March 2016 in the Nature Geoscience journal.

The study estimated that the pace of emissions even eclipsed the onset of the biggest known natural surge in fossil records that was perhaps driven by a release of frozen stores of greenhouse gases beneath the seabed.

As per the research, current carbon emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels, are about 10 billion tonnes a year, against 1.1 billion a year spread over 4000 years at the onset of the fast warming 56 million years ago.

This research confirmed an early study undertaken by the UN that projected that temperatures could rise by up to 4.8 degrees Celsius in the 21st century, causing floods, droughts and more powerful storms, if emissions rise unchecked.

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