REPORT / INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Experts from the state-run Energy Research Institute told the China Daily the nation's emissions of carbon dioxide could reach 5.5 billion tonnes in 2010 and 8.8 billion tonnes in 2035.China is widely believed to be the world's biggest emitter of CO2, the gas from fossil fuels, industry, farming and land clearance that is accumulating in the air, trapping more solar radiation and threatening to dangerously overheat the globe.In retort China indicated that Rich nations should cut their greehouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels as part of a new global climate change pact.

In another part of the world teams of snorkel-wearing scientists could be warriors against the ravages of climate change on coral reefs, the International Union for Conservation of Nature reported .Warmer waters can contribute to the bleaching of coral reefs, a process in which microscopic plants that live on and nourish the coral are lost; without these plants, coral can die in a matter of weeks.Oceans have absorbed some 525 billion tons of this gas over the last 200 years, about a third of all the carbon dioxide humans have generated; when carbon dioxide combines with sea water, it forms the corrosive carbonic acid.

The United Nations issued a range of rival ideas for fighting climate change from rich and poor nations .The 53-page text included suggestions that rich nations set aside up to 2 percent of their gross national product to help the poor cope with global warming, while rich countries called for developing nations to do more to limit greenhouse gas emissions.The texts included issues such as 2020 goals for cuts in emissions and ways to monitor actions to curb global warming by developing nations such as China and India.