Bitcoin may cause catastrophic climate change by 2033, study warns

The increasing use of Bitcoin threatens a catastrophic escalation of climate change, a new study warns.

Scientists say the amount of electricity involved in “mining” the cryptocurrency could boost global temperatures by more than two degrees by 2033.

A team at the University of Hawaii Manoa analysed the power efficiency of computers used in the administration of Bitcoin, estimating that the activity was responsible for the production of 69 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2017.

They calculated that if Bitcoin is taken up at similar rates to other new technologies, it is likely to raise global temperatures by two degrees within 22 years at a conservative estimate, or in a worst-case scenario within 16 years.

The 2015 Paris Agreement commits 195 nations to stopping global temperatures rising more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.

Katie Taladay, who co-authored the study, which is published in the Nature Climate Change, said: "Currently, the emissions from transportation, housing and food are considered the main contributors to ongoing climate change.

“This research illustrates that Bitcoin should be added to this list,"

Bitcoin purchases create encrypted transactions that are recorded and processed by a group of individuals referred to as miners., who group every Bitcoin transaction executed during a given timeframe into a block, which is then added to an online chain, a form of public ledger.

The electricity demands of the mining verification process are high.

"We cannot predict the future of Bitcoin, but if implemented at a rate even close to the slowest pace at which other technologies have been incorporated, it will spell very bad news for climate change and the people and species impacted by it," said Professor Camilo Mora, the study’s lead author.