A new report suggests that China overtook the European Union (EU) for per capita pollution in 2013.
The emission of greenhouse gas, which is blamed for climate changes, is on the rise worldwide. The Global Carbon Project, which is an association of several research bodies, has released an annual report that suggests that the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) will increase again in 2014.
The report highlights that humans have already ejected 66 percent of the estimated fossil fuel emissions in the atmosphere allowed to avoid irreparable changes to the Earth. The report indicates that CO2 emissions should not exceed 1,200 billion tonnes for keeping average global warming under 2 degrees Celsius.
The report also suggests that China accounted for 28 percent of the global total CO2 emissions in 2013. The U.S. accounted for 14 percent, the EU contributed 10 percent and India about 7 percent of the total CO2 emission in 2013. The growth rate of CO2 emission in China stood at 4.2 percent in 2013. The growth rate in the U.S. was 2.9 percent and in India it was 5.1 percent. The EU witnessed negative growth of -1.8 percent.
"The per-capita CO2 emissions in 2013 were 1.4 tonnes of carbon per person and per year (5.1 GtCO2) for the globe, and 4.5 (16.4 GtCO2), 2.0 (7.2 GtCO2), 1.9 (6.8 GtCO2), and 0.5 (1.9 GtCO2) tonnes of carbon person-1yr-1 for the USA, China, the EU28, and India, respectively. The countries contributing most to the 2013 change in emissions were China (58% increase), USA (20% increase), India (17% increase), and EU28 (11% decrease)," per the report.
Scientists estimate that the global CO2 emission may reach up to 43.2 billion tonnes by 2019. China will account for about 12.7 billion tonnes of emission. Experts believe that 16 percent of China's emission is from industries that produce products for export.
Climate change is an important issue for the Earth. Rising sea level, and increase in ocean and land surface temperatures are some of the effects of global warming. Climate change experts believe that China is a leading contributor of global pollution. However, it is a global issue and should be addressed at a global level.
