Neil C. Swart and Andrew J. Weaver, Nature Climate Change, 2,
2012 About the commentary Developing the Alberta oil-sands will
lead to carbon emissions that in turn result in global warming.
Our paper calculates the amount of warming the oil-sands could
potentially cause. We also consider how oil-sands carbon
emissions relate to the effort to keep global mean temperatures
from exceeding 2°C above pre-industrial levels, as agreed to in
the Copenhagen Accord. Finally, we compare the potential for
warming of the Alberta oil-sands with the potential for warming
of other global fossil-fuel resources. Potential Oil Sands
Carbon Footprints The green circle illustrates the current
maximum cumulative per capita carbon emissions compatible with
keeping global mean warming below 2°C. The red circle shows the
per capita carbon footprint that would result from the current
populations of the USA and Canada utilizing the Alberta oil
sands proven reserves. The blue circle shows the per capita
carbon footprint that would be ac