CO2 emission

POLLUTION: Fossil CO2 emissions by countries

Since the beginning of industrialization, the presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has skyrocketed.

The combustion of fuels is the main reason for the increase in CO2 emissions. The fuels involved in said CO2 production are:

• Solid fossil fuel combustion: like coal.
• Combustion of liquid fuels, such as oil, gasoline, diesel, and kerosene.
• The combustion of gaseous fuels such as natural gas.

Excessive CO2 emissions make the proportion of CO2 in the atmosphere skyrocket, which is caused by air pollution, the so-called global warming and the acidification of the oceans.

The fight against global warming is underway, but the high figures for carbon dioxide emissions do not allow us to be very optimistic about reducing the pollution of our atmosphere. The problem would improve radically if the 10 countries that emit the most CO2 into the atmosphere took its reduction seriously, since they alone generate 72% of greenhouse gases.

It should be said that only China, which is in the first place in the ranking of CO2 emitting countries, pollutes as much as the United States, India, Russia and Japan combined. And as we can see in the ranking, the most polluting countries are developed countries.

Beyond looking at the total CO2 emitted, it is convenient to analyze the evolution of the tons per capita, since it can be absurd to compare countries with a significant difference in terms of population size.

Another analysis that we must carry out is that of CO2 emissions per 1,000 dollars of GDP. Investing in clean energy can drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, without affecting production.

In the table at the top we can see these variables and order the CO2 ranking according to each of them, which will give us a fairly complete global vision of the real situation of each of the countries with respect to the rest. To see the evolution of CO2 emissions in each of the countries, click on the name of the country.