The USA’s environmental Protection Agency is seeking public comment on its draft report for the annual Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2007. This report will be open for public comment for 30 days.
The draft report shows that overall emissions during 2007 increased by 1.4 percent from the previous year. This trend was due primarily to an increase in carbon dioxide emissions associated with fuel and electricity consumption. The total US greenhouse gas emissions were about 7125 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. Overall, emissions have grown by 17.1 percent from 1990 to 2007.
The inventory tracks annual greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 to 2007 at the national level. The gases covered include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulphur hexafluoride. The inventory also calculates carbon dioxide emissions that are removed from the atmosphere by “sinks,” for example through the uptake of carbon by forests, vegetation, and soils.
After responding to public comments, the US government will submit the final inventory report to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The report will fulfill the annual requirement of the UNFCCC international treaty, ratified by the United States in 1992, which sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change.