Global carbon emissions hit record high, solidifying scientists' warnings of irreversible climate change

Carbon dioxide emissions just keep getting worse.

Scientists projected that global emissions will reach another record high by the end of 2018, proving a flat period between 2014 and 2016 didn't indicate a stable future. Emissions spiked 1.6 percent in 2017 and are projected to rise 2.7 percent in 2018, squashing hopes that greenhouse gas-fighting policies in some countries were doing enough to curb worldwide carbon production, The Washington Post reports.

In 2018, a projected 37.1 billion tons of industrial emissions were released into the atmosphere, the Post reports via the Global Carbon Project. The U.S. was responsible for about 6 billion of those tons, making it the second largest single-country producer behind China's 10 billion. America's miserable total increased by 2.5 percent this year, and India's previously tiny total went up by a shocking 6.3 percent. In fact, the only major carbon producer to decrease its emissions was the E.U.

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These findings dredge up warnings from the United Nations and thousands of researchers who've said there's no chance the planet can be saved from climate change's devastating effects if emissions aren't halved by 2030. But even warnings from President Trump's own administration haven't convinced him to take action against human-made climate change — or even to acknowledge it exists. Read more of the report's troubling findings at The Washington Post.