Introduction
A country’s carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gasses it emits into the earth’s atmosphere; the primary compounds that makeup greenhouse gasses are carbon dioxide and methane. Though naturally occurring, large quantities of greenhouse gasses are dangerous to the environment because they absorb and emit thermal radiation, trapping heat under the atmosphere and warming the Earth.
Furthermore, large quantities of greenhouse gasses that are being emitted and the subsequent warming of the earth, lead to, for example, the melting of glaciers or ice caps releasing trapped greenhouse gasses, releasing even more into the atmosphere and warming the earth further. Developing countries often have a higher footprint than developed countries due to their industrialization, the same that other countries have already gone through in the 19th and 20th centuries. However, developed countries have sought to lower their greenhouse gas emissions through international treaties and agreements, as well as enacting laws that cap how much carbon a person or entity may emit in a given time.
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