Our planet is heating up at an alarming rate with the last decade being the warmest recorded and the global average temperature reaching 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels. In 2019, the atmospheric CO2 concentrations were higher than at any time in at least 2 million years with China, the United States, India, and Russia being the largest emitters of CO2. This article discusses some of the most important trends in climate change and presents the top 10 countries that emit the most CO2.
Current trends of climate warming
Human-induced global warming is causing widespread and rapid changes to the earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and biosphere. Currently, global temperatures are rising at 0.2°C per decade with the 2011-2020 decade being the warmest ever recorded. The average amount of precipitation at the global level has increased since the 1950s leading to a higher incidence of floods and changes in ocean salinity in near-surface levels. On the other hand, the global mean sea level is currently rising at an average of 3.7 mm per year, recording a total increase of 0.20 m between 1901 and 2018. Global CO2 emissions reached a historic high of 33.5 GtCO2 in 2018 increasing the atmospheric CO2 concentrations to the highest level registered in at least 2 million years.
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An overview of greenhouse gases
The main driver of global warming is considered to be the greenhouse effect that refers to the process in which some gases released into the earth’s atmosphere trap the sun’s heat and block this from escaping back into space. These are the key gases emitted by human activities that contribute to the greenhouse effect:
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Fig. 1. Global greenhouse emissions by type of gas (2019, %)
Source: EPA.gov.com – Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data.
Carbon emissions by country (Top 10)
China was the largest emitter of CO2 in 2019 with 10.17 billion tonnes or 20.3% of the total, followed by the United States with 5.28 billion tonnes, India with 2.62 billion tonnes, and Russia with 1.68 billion tonnes. The aggregate volume of CO2 released by these four countries was 19.8 billion tonnes or 39.5% of the total emissions for that year. Interestingly, the top 10 countries featured in this ranking were responsible for 48.3% of CO2 emissions in 2019 while the remaining 185 countries were responsible for 52.8% of emissions.
Source: Our World in Data: Annual CO₂ emissions for selected countries (2019). Countries with the highest CO2 emissions are retrieved here.
* Based on the approximation of overall global emissions of 50 billion tonnes of CO2e each year.
What is being done to combat climate change?
International actors such as the United Nations and the European Union have developed comprehensive strategies to intensify their efforts to combat climate change and limit global warming to 1.5°C. These two entities have highlighted the fact that keeping the planet cool will require changes on an unprecedented scale and across all sectors. The international community is advised to maintain consistent governance to limit warming to 1.5°C by heavily reducing emissions in all sectors, fostering technological innovation, and promoting behavioral changes. Moreover, to achieve the transition to a climate-neutral society by 2050, all parts of society and economic sectors are urged to invest in realistic solutions, align actions in key areas and ensure social fairness for a just transition.
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