Now that we've seen how the climate is changing, lets take some time to explore who is
responsible. Each circle in this visualization represents a country, with areas proportional
to CO2 emissions. Scroll down and sideways to see more.
At one end are countries like the tiny Nauru (population ~10000), which emits about 1/100th
as much as the city of Cambridge.
Ratio of highest GDP per capita to lowest:
211.58
Ratio of highest CO2 per capita to lowest:
1428.57
CO2 is a greenhouse gas. That means that it traps the sun's energy inside the atmosphere,
causing the earth to get hotter.
CO2 emissions have increased by about 90% since 1970, and more than 600% since 1950. (IPCC (2014))
If the European Union were a country, it would be the third largest CO2 emitter at
3098035.89 thousand metric tons.
Oil-producing countries in the Middle East head up the per-capita list, but the United
States comes in 10th in the world.
The top 5 carbon-emitting countries were responsible for more than 65% of the CO2 put into
the atmosphere in 2014.
The U.S. is second only behind China in total CO2 emissions, and is responsible for a
staggering 15% of worldwide emissions each year.
The U.S.'s large carbon contribution means that changes to U.S. emission rates can
make a huge global difference. Click the arrow on the right to see more!