Introduction
CO2 emissions are the leading cause of air pollution around the world. CO2 or Carbon Dioxide emissions are released upon the combustion of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas. The emission of CO2 into the atmosphere is directly responsible for speeding up the process known as the greenhouse effect, where the heat and energy of the sun get trapped within our atmosphere and gradually heat up the earth’s surface in a phenomenon known as global warming.
A large proportion of CO2 emissions historically have originated in the Western Europe (with nations like the UK and Germany) and the United States. This is largely due to the Industrial Revolution taking place in these regions of the world, where manufacturing reached industrial scale and the UK, for instance, became the factory of the world. Recently, however, Asia, more specifically China, have produced the most CO2 emissions.This is due to China’s economy and industry within decades rapidly expanding (with China becoming the factory of the world), possessing a huge population, and major infrastructure projects within the nation too.
The presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is natural and is part of a regulating system known as the carbon cycle. However, with excessive emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, the carbon cycle would be disrupted, thereby accelerating global warming. The emission of each country is measured through their carbon footprint, which is a sum total of all their greenhouse gas emissions from individuals, companies, industries, and on the country level.
If you want to learn more about CO2 emissions by country, please refer to the data in the charts.
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