Germana Carillo A new fossil fuel site approved off the coast of Western Australia will contribute to the emission of at least 876 million tons of carbon dioxide, according to new research conducted by the Australian National University (ANU) in collaboration with the ARC Center of Excellence for the Weather of the 21st century
While the world struggles to contain the climate emergency, Australia approves a fossil gas extraction project that threatens to wipe out decades of progress. This is the Scarborough project, linked to liquefied natural gas (LNG) production, and according to a new international study, it will release over 876 million tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere over its 31-year operational lifetime.
An enormous amount that directly contradicts global commitments to reduce emissions and the promises made by the Australian government itself regarding ecological transition.
This isn’t a “drop in the ocean,” as many try to downplay it: it’s a tide of greenhouse gases that will have measurable effects on global warming, human health, and ecosystems.
A project that contradicts every climate goal
Sounding the alarm is a group of scientists from the Australian National University, in collaboration with researchers from Oxford, James Cook University, and other international institutions.
Using a method called Transitory Climate Response to Cumulative CO₂ Emissions (TCRE), the researchers calculated that the Scarborough project — with its combined production and consumption emissions — could alone contribute to an average global temperature increase of 0.00039°C (0.0007°F).
It may seem like a tiny figure, but it’s far from it: according to the researchers, that increase will lead to over half a million more people exposed to extreme heat waves, hundreds of additional heat-related deaths, 350,000 people forced to live outside the “human climate niche” and the loss of approximately 16 million coral colonies in the Great Barrier Reef.
A predicted disaster that contradicts every international commitment on emission reduction and climate adaptation.
@Nature Climate Action
When profit tramples planetary wellbeing
The paradox is evident: while the world faces wildfires, droughts, hurricanes, and climate-related food crises, we continue to invest in new fossil infrastructure. The consequences of the Scarborough project won’t be limited to Australia: its contribution to global warming will be global, and everyone will pay the price — people, animals, forests, and oceans.
Science has been repeating it for years: every ton of CO₂ counts and every new fossil project pushes us closer to a point of no return, where the effects of global warming will become irreversible.
We are one step away from the climate abyss – the authors conclude – and decisions like this only accelerate the fall.
Source: Nature Climate Action
