Contributions to Global Warming: Historic Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Fossil Fuel Combustion, 1900-1999
| Analytical Overview |
| In this map cartogram, countries and regions were drawn at a scale proportional to their percent contribution to the world's supply of carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. The map uses country data from Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States. Regional data was used for Africa, developing Asia (including India and China), Europe, the Former Soviet Union, the Middle East, and South and Central America. Carbon dioxide emissions shown are from 1900 to 1999, to reflect carbon dioxide’s approximate atmospheric residence time. |
Map Projection
(Map Cartogram)
Map Description
This map redefines the relative area of countries and regions of the world using historical carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel consumption from 1900-1999. Of the industrialized countries and regions, the United States and Europe contributed the most to the world's carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels during this time period (30.3% and 27.7%, respectively). Of the developing countries and regions, China, India and developing Asia contributed the most (12.2%). The time period of 1977-1999 accounts for half of these figures (WRI 2004), as fossil fuel usage increased over the last fifty years. Emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are responsible for roughly 80 percent of yearly carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. According to the United States Department of Energy, carbon dioxide is one of the most significant of the "greenhouse gases" contributing to the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is caused by an increase in the Earth's temperature as heat energy from sunlight is trapped by the gaseous atmosphere.
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Citation:
2001. Contributions to Global Warming Map. World Resources Institute, Washington DC.
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