Study: Human metabolism produces 2 billion metric tons of CO₂ yearly
University of Bath research finds respiratory emissions rose 74% since 1985, but clarifies the carbon cycle difference from fossil fuels.
What to know
- Human metabolism produces 2.05 billion metric tons of CO₂ annually as of 2015, up 74% since 1985.
- Respiratory CO₂ is distinct from fossil fuel emissions—it represents recent carbon cycled through food and plants, not ancient stored carbon.
- The research helps scientists better understand the complete carbon cycle and human activity's role within it.
“A University of Bath–led study has estimated that the carbon dioxide produced by humans as our bodies turn food into energy rose by 74% between 1985 and 2015, reaching 2.05 billion metric tons a year.”
Phys.org · Phys.org ↗
University of Bath Research institution
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Researcher clarifies metabolic CO₂ differs from fossil fuel emissions
Scientist emphasizes that respiratory carbon comes from recently consumed food and represents carbon plants recently pulled from the atmosphere, unlike fossil fuels which release carbon stored underground for millions of years.
“The CO₂ people breathe out is not the same as emissions from burning fossil fuels. The carbon we exhale comes from the food we eat and is largely carbon that plants have recently taken from the atmosphere.”
— dyckron@cosocial.ca -
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"Crucially, the CO₂ people breathe out is not the same as emissions from burning fossil fuels. The carbon we exhale comes from the food we eat and is largely carbon that plants have recently taken from the atmosphere. Fossil fuels, by contrast, release carbon that has been stored underground for millions of years." Collective human metabolism…
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background
University of Bath study quantifies human metabolic CO₂ emissions — Researchers estimated that carbon dioxide produced by humans as bodies convert food into energy reached 2.05 billion metric tons per year by 2015, representing a 74% increase from 1985 levels.
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first by Earth.com, 6d ago · also SciTechDaily
2 more headlines
- Collective human metabolism produces 2 billion metric tons of CO₂ a year, global study estimates Phys.org · 6d ago
- Human Bodies Are Producing Two Billion Tons of CO2 a Year SciTechDaily · 6d ago