The prediction, of a 2-percent growth, comes in the Global Carbon Budget report, produced by a group of several dozen research institutions and emissions experts. The official number is expected to be 37 billion tons of carbon dioxide, the highest total ever.

Scientists are anticipating a 3.5-percent increase in carbon emissions from China that will not be offset by decreases or smaller increases in other countries. Predictions are that the European Union and the United States are on track for slight decreases overall for 2017.

The report release coincides with the United Nations climate summit in Bonn, Germany. One of the goals of the summit is to consolidate actions that countries will take to meet the target of the 2015 Paris agreement, namely keeping the rise in global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius.