How much pollution does the us produce

That should teach us something about the most populated countries in the world today: India and China. And remember the total emissions rate from both China and India has to be divided by more than a billion to yield an apt comparison to countries like the United States. In , the US emitted China emitted 6. India emitted just 1.

As these countries get richer, their per capita emissions are poised to rise further. This is why technology transfer from wealthier countries to less developed economies is shaping up to be a critical component of fighting climate change.

But ultimately the largest share of the burden in cleaning up this mess should fall to those who played the largest role in creating it. This animation leaves no doubt as to the culprits.

Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower through understanding. Financial contributions from our readers are a critical part of supporting our resource-intensive work and help us keep our journalism free for all. Please consider making a contribution to Vox today to help us keep our work free for all.

Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from.

And a study published this year, using the latest data, from , shows the US and other countries still produce more per capita waste plastic. But China, and other countries in Asia, are major contributors to marine plastic waste.

And China's Yangtze river in China is believed to be the top source, along with rivers in other parts of Asia. On average, 24kg 53lb of waste was found floating in every 1, sq m 11, sq ft of water.

Read more from Reality Check. Send us your questions. Follow us on Twitter. Five things Trump has said about the environment. How bad are forest fires this year?

Reality Check: How much plastic do we send to China? Reality Check: Where is the plastic waste mountain? Image source, Reuters. China and US have pointed the finger at each over climate change.

But on Thursday, President Trump announced the United States would withdraw from a nation agreement on climate change reached in Paris in The decision to walk away from the accord is a momentous setback, in practical and political terms, for the effort to address climate change.

It means the United States — the country with the largest, most dynamic economy — is giving up a leadership role when it comes to finding solutions for climate change. Some backers of the agreement argued that the large American role in causing climate change creates an outsize responsibility to help fight it, including an obligation to send billions of dollars abroad to help people in poorer countries.

On Thursday, he pledged to walk away from the balance of the commitment, though Congress may have the last word. Trump argued that meeting the terms of the Paris accord would strangle the American economy and lead to major job losses.

Many in the manufacturing and fossil fuel industries lobbied for the United States to leave the pact, but corporate opinion has been deeply split. Leaving the Paris deal was a central Trump campaign pledge. China surpassed the United States a decade ago, and its emissions today are about double the American figure.

And yet, increasing demand for coal, oil, and natural gas drove the increase in GHG emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. This report and our analysis focuses only on fossil fuel-generated CO2 emissions, the single most important greenhouse gas and by far the largest contributor to anthropogenic warming. Climate refugee crises: They're happening right now. Here's how you can help. Cement, in particular, and natural resources extraction and processing in general, contribute massively to CO2 emissions.

A recent report found that the majority of carbon emissions are created by such processes, even before any fuel is burned.

Malaysia has experienced tremendous economic growth in the last four decades, moving rapidly from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy. This expansion has meant more factories, automobiles, and power plants, all of which enormously escalated energy demands.

That demand has pushed Malaysia's CO2 emissions to Emissions, however, continue to rise as Malaysia finds itself unable to make the larger efforts needed to wean itself off fossil fuels, particularly cheap — but dirty — coal. Most of the countries emitting the most CO2 are also among the top emitters on a per capita basis, and Taiwan is no exception.

The Taiwan is attempting to move away from nuclear power, a zero emission source of energy but one with many other issues — environmental and otherwise. In doing so, however, the nation has increased its dependency on coal, failing to move forward with alternative energy technology. CO2 emissions from Spain have fallen since their peak in , but they are up by Spain's CO2 emissions ranked ninth in out of the 51 European and Central Asian countries examined.

The country's recently-elected Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is determined to make Spain a leader in GHG emissions reductions within the European Union and has proposed a plan that would end the burning of fossil fuels by Kazakhstan's carbon dioxide output is immense, particularly relative to its population, with a per capita emission rate of Instead, it is focused on updating its coal plants and creating more natural gas plant capacity, carrying its reliance on fossil fuels into the future.

Though Poland reduced its carbon output by Poland has not shown a great deal of enthusiasm for climate measures. A law that took effect in may be discouraging the development of wind energy and. In climate negotiations, Poland has put forth a set of priorities above climate policy, including reducing poverty and hunger and increasing energy security.

Still, because of its heavy historical dependence on coal, there are clear paths to carbon reduction in Poland as coal is phased out. Thailand's energy production from coal expanded by Thailand has announced in the last few years aggressive goals in reducing its carbon output.