A carbon bomb, or climate bomb,[1] is any new extraction of hydrocarbons from underground whose potential greenhouse gas emissions exceed 1 billion tonnes of CO2 worldwide.

It also refers to any physical phenomenon triggered or accelerated by global warming that itself contributes to increasing global warming via a climate change feedback. For instance, destruction of natural ecosystems like mangroves, peatlands and boreal forests release huge quantities of greenhouse gases, which increase the atmosphere's capacity to retain heat.[2]

Background

In 2022, a study shows that there are 425 fossil fuel extraction projects (coal, oil and gas) with potential CO2 emissions of more than 1 billion tonnes worldwide. The potential emissions from these projects are twice the 1.5°C carbon budget of the Paris Agreement. According to these researchers, defusing carbon bombs should be a priority for climate change mitigation policy.[3]

According to the same study, the Global Energy Monitor and "Banking on Climate Chaos" associations, between 2016 and 2022, the main backers of these climate bombs are the American banks JPMorgan Chase, Citibank and Bank of America.[4]

Between 2020 and 2022, at least twenty new "climate bombs" went into operation, reveals an international journalistic investigation.[5][6][4] In this survey, France's TotalEnergies is cited as the second most responsible group for fossil megafields, with a presence at 23 major hydrocarbon extraction sites.[7] In November 2023, China's China Energy will lead the ranking and Saudi Aramco of Saudi Arabia will complete the podium.[8]

The acceleration of global warming increases the risk of forest fires, releasing additional carbon dioxide, and also accelerates the melting of permafrost, which contains large quantities of methane, further accelerating warming.

Examples

  • Exploitation of new coal mines in Australia.[9]
  • Exploiting Canada's oil sands. [10]
  • Shale gas extraction, for instance in Permian basin in Texas[11]
  • Melting permafrost, leading to the release of methane hydrates (crystals of water and methane formed at low temperatures) in Arctic regions that are usually permanently frozen (Russia, Canada, Alaska).[12]
  • Slowing down, or even stopping, the thermohaline circulation, a set of vertical currents that carry some of the carbon to the bottom of the world's oceans.[13]
  • Megafires, which are themselves sources of carbon dioxide and which destroy forests, as carbon sinks.[14]
  • Destruction of peatlands. [15]

References

  1. ↑ "« Bombes carbone » : TotalEnergies, numéro deux mondial des mégagisements fossiles". Le Monde. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  2. ↑ "A ticking time-bomb for the climate crisis?". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  3. ↑ Kühne, Kjell; Bartsch, Nils; Tate, Ryan Driskell; Higson, Julia (2022-07-01). ""Carbon Bombs" - Mapping key fossil fuel projects" (PDF). Energy Policy. 166: 112950. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112950. ISSN 0301-4215. S2CID 248756651. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  4. 1 2 Niranjan, Ajit (2023-10-31). "Banks pumped more than $150bn in to companies running 'carbon bomb' projects in 2022". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  5. ↑ "Emissions de CO2 : vingt nouvelles « bombes climatiques » exploitées depuis 2020". Le Soir (in French). 2023-10-31. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  6. ↑ "« Bombes carbone » : ces projets fossiles qui ruinent les efforts pour le climat". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2023-10-31. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  7. ↑ "« Bombes carbone » : TotalEnergies, numéro deux mondial des mégagisements fossiles". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2023-10-31. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
  8. ↑ "Les « bombes carbone » qui empirent le dérèglement climatique, une responsabilité partagée entre Etats, entreprises et banques". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2023-11-01. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
  9. ↑ "10 major insurers refuse to support Australian 'carbon bomb' coal mine - IEMA". www.iema.net. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  10. ↑ "Canada is sitting on 12 'carbon bombs.' Here's where they are". CBC/Radio-Canada. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  11. ↑ Les Amis de la Terre - France; Reclaim Finance (May 2020). "La Place financière de Paris au fond du puits" (PDF). amisdelaterre.org (in French). p. 13-28..
  12. ↑ "Driven by climate change, thawing permafrost is radically changing the Arctic landscape". PBS NewsHour. 2022-04-13. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  13. ↑ Colbert, Angela. "Slowdown of the Motion of the Ocean". Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  14. ↑ Zhong, Raymond (2022-02-23). "Climate Scientists Warn of a 'Global Wildfire Crisis'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  15. ↑ Zarin, Daniel (2022-11-05). "Opinion | The World's Peatlands Are Climate Bombs Waiting to Detonate". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-11-04.

See also

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