I try not to think of politics all the time but recent numbers show how futile it is to attempt a significant reduction when countries are belting out so much and where the odd volcano spews out millions of tons of the stuff. Without carbon dioxide (currently a trace gas 0.04% of the atmosphere i.e. 400 ppm) we would be dead. 2019 figures below.
- China, with more than 10,065 million tons of CO2 released.
- United States, with 5,416 million tons of CO2
- India, with 2,654 million tons of CO2
- Russia, with 1,711 million tons of CO2
- Japan, 1,162 million tons of CO2
- Germany, 759 million tons of CO2
- Iran, 720 million tons of CO2
- South Korea, 659 million tons of CO2
- Saudi Arabia, 621 million tons of CO2
- Indonesia, 615 million tons of CO2
- …………
- United Kingdom, 331 million tons of CO2
Don’t forget the 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen
We can ask why this topic is still important in spite of the small %. Here is an article that may start you thinking. Separate the gas produced by industry with the CO enabled by work in the sea, the air, and overseas. It’s not as straight-forward as you think.
