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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Environment
Oliver Milman

Burning world’s fossil fuel reserves could emit 3.5tn tons of greenhouse gas

chimneys puffing out smoke at a power plant on the banks of a river
The Bruce Mansfield power station, a coal-fired power station on the Ohio River near Shippingport, Pennsylvania. Photograph: Clarence Holmes Photography/Alamy

Burning the world’s proven reserves of fossil fuels would emit more planet-heating emissions than have occurred since the industrial revolution, easily blowing the remaining carbon budget before societies are subjected to catastrophic global heating, a new analysis has found.

An enormous 3.5tn tons of greenhouse gas emissions will be emitted if governments allow identified reserves of coal, oil and gas to be extracted and used, according to what has been described as the first public database of fossil fuel production.

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