New tool maps each tonne of emissions to crops, heat, poverty and death
The Carbon Impacts Tracer predicts specific harms from coal and gas emissions using peer-reviewed science.
Climate scientists have released a new online tool that shows what happens when fossil fuel projects go ahead. The Carbon Impacts Tracer uses published research to estimate the real-world toll of each megatonne of carbon dioxide: crop failures, coral bleaching, deaths from heat stress, glacier loss, and people pushed into extreme poverty.
A Hunter Valley coalmine expansion releasing 809 million tonnes of emissions would cause about 107 deaths in Europe, push 41,800 people into extreme poverty, and lead to 38.8 million extra hours of heavy labour lost each year.
Scientists have spent years saying every fraction of a degree of warming matters. This tool puts numbers on what that means.
- 809 million tonnes
- Hunter Valley emissions
- 107
- Deaths in Europe
- 41,800 people
- Pushed into extreme poverty
- 38.8 million
- Heavy labour hours lost annually
Why it mattersGovernments and companies can now see the specific human cost of approving new coal and gas, not just the carbon number.
AustraliaAustralian fossil fuel projects now face a tool that quantifies their global impact, adding pressure on regulators and investors to justify new developments.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 h ago
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