The war in Iran has put 2026 on track for a dip in annual fossil-fuel carbon emissions

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/54245880

The U.S. war with Iran has raised fossil fuel prices so much that the resulting drop in oil demand has put the world on track to see a rare dip in carbon emissions from these sources in 2026.

Between 2019 and 2025, carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels grew by about 0.8 percent annually, according to a new study published in Nature Climate Change. But 2026 is set to buck that trend: high oil prices, as well as the continued rise of green technology—solar power, wind and electric cars—will cause a “short-term” 0.4 percent drop, according to the study.

“The high petrol prices following the war in Iran are reducing oil use and keeping emissions low,” says the study’s lead author Corinne Le Quéré, a professor of climate change science at the University of East Anglia in England. “But that’s not the whole story: The expansion of renewable energy has progressed a lot in recent years, led by China. And [along with electric vehicles], this is offsetting two thirds of the growing demand for energy.”

With all sources of carbon considered, including deforestation, total global CO2 emissions are set to continue increasing.

  • SpaghettiMaster@feddit.ukEnglish
    101·
    19 hours ago

    There usually is an alternative. I watch people richer than me, using more energy, complaining about the costs and how much they are struggling… Just don’t use all that energy then. But they won’t.

    But that conversation seems to be impossible. They just say they NEED it. I don’t think they care, even the slightest inconvenience is too much.

    Its not just energy, its almost every expense in modern life. Overconsumption won’t bring you happiness, working longer to buy more stuff isn’t going to improve your life.