California (Web Desk): A new scientific study has revealed that the natural metabolic processes of human bodies release approximately 2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually, with these emissions recording a 74 percent increase over the past 30 years.
According to the research, led by the University of Bath, human bodies release carbon dioxide while converting food into energy. By 2015, the annual amount of this gas emitted by human bodies worldwide had risen to approximately 2.05 billion metric tonnes.
The study stated that carbon dioxide emissions from human bodies stood at 1.18 billion metric tonnes in 1985, rising to 2.05 billion metric tonnes by 2015. The main reason for this increase was identified as the growth in the world's population, which accounted for more than 60 percent of the rise.
According to scientists, there is a fundamental difference between the carbon dioxide released through human breathing and the emissions produced by burning fossil fuels, including coal, oil and natural gas.
Carbon dioxide released by the human body comes from carbon recently absorbed from the atmosphere by plants and then consumed by humans through food. In contrast, burning fossil fuels releases into the atmosphere carbon that has been stored underground for millions of years, placing additional pressure on the natural carbon balance.
The research was published in the medical journal The Lancet Planetary Health. It described carbon dioxide produced through human metabolism as an important part of the global carbon cycle, which had not previously been examined in detail on this scale.