World getting hotter and more crowded

THE world is getting hotter and using more fossil fuels as the population surges towards the 6.5 billion mark.  (currently 6.45 billion people on the planet, an increase of 74 million from 2004.)

Those people used 3.8 billion tons of oil, or 83.3 million barrels a day, an increase of 1.3 per cent over 2004.

Coal use rose 6.3 per cent to 2.8 billion tons of oil equivalent, while natural gas use rose 3.3 per cent to 2.4 billion tons of oil equivalent.

There were 45.6 million passenger cars built (up 3.2 per cent), an extra 18.5 million light trucks constructed (up 2.8 per cent), and another 101 million bicycles were made (up nine per cent).

The world now has more than 603 million cars, and 220 million light trucks, on its roads.

Worldwatch is an environmentally-focused organisation that analyses global trends, from the environment to the economy.

It's Vital Signs publication, released today, is an annual study of a large number of issues, including fossil fuel use, deforestation, infant mortality rates and aluminium production.

The Worldwatch Institute report on the state of the planet found the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere is at an all-time high, with the world consuming more oil and coal.

However, there are signs dependence on fossil fuels may be ebbing with big increases in ethanol, solar and wind energy.

Ethanol production soared 19 per cent to 36.5 billion litres.

Solar power is now the world's fastest growing energy source, with photovoltaic cell production up 45 per cent to 1700 megawatts during 2005.

There are now 125 million square metres of solar heating installed.

Wind power capacity increased 24 per cent to 59,600 megawatts last year. In the United States, there are now enough wind turbines to meet the needs of 2.3 million households.

Worldwatch Institute president Christopher Flavin said the increase in alternative fuels was a good sign.

"These developments are impressive and are likely to provoke far-reaching changes in world energy markets within the next five years," he said.

"But the transition will have to move even faster to prevent the kind of ecological and economic crises that may be precipitated by continuing dependence on fossil fuels."

The report also found major problems confronting the world.

The average temperature in 2005 was 14.6 degrees Celsius, which it said is the warmest year ever recorded on the Earth's surface.

Five of the warmest years on record have occurred since 1998.

Carbon dioxide concentration reached 379.6 parts per million, an increase of 0.6 per cent over the record amount in 2004. The 2005 increase is the largest ever recorded.

And carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel burning increased 4.5 per cent to a record 7.6 billion tons.

Project director of Vital Signs, Erik Assadourian, said it was clear the world was living beyond its means.

"Business as usual is harming the Earth's eco-systems and the people who depend on them," he said.

"If everyone consumed at the average level of high-income countries, the planet could sustainably support only 1.8 billion people, not today's population of 6.5 billion.

"Yet the world's population is expected not to shrink but to grow to 8.9 billion by 2050."