CO₂ emissions
Outlook on Sustainability
How much CO₂ does the world emit? Which countries emit the most?
How have global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) changed over time?
In this chart, we see the growth of global emissions from the mid-18th century. Before the Industrial Revolution, emissions were very low. Growth in emissions was still relatively slow until the mid-20th century. In 1950 the world emitted 6 billion tonnes of CO2. By 1990 this had almost quadrupled, reaching more than 20 billion tonnes. Emissions have continued to grow rapidly; we now emit over 35 billion tonnes each year.
Global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and land use change
How have global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil fuels and land use changed over time?
We see that while emissions from fossil fuels have increased, emissions from land use change have declined slightly in recent years. Overall, this means total emissions have roughly stabilized over the past decade.
CO2 emissions by region
This interactive chart shows the breakdown of global CO2 emissions by region. We see that until well into the 20th century, global emissions were dominated by Europe and the United States. In 1900, more than 90% of emissions were produced in Europe or the US. In the second half of the 20th century, we see a significant rise in emissions in the rest of the world, particularly across Asia, and most notably, China. The US and Europe now account for less than one-third of emissions.
Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser - "C02 emissions". Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: ‘https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions’ [Online Resource]
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