Greenhouse gas and carbon emissions come from all over the world, but which countries are doing the most harm? These four maps indicate the most and least greenhouse gas emitting countries on our planet, and they each consider a different aspect of land-use, population, and carbon emissions to give you a visual understanding of worldwide greenhouse gas contribution as of 2000.
(Source: World Resources Institute's CAIT 4.0 database)
1. Per Capita GHG Emissions in 2000 Including Land-Use Change
Photo credit: Vinny Burgoo / Wikimedia
This first map designates the most and least greenhouse gas contributing countries (per capita) around the world, including land-use change. Land-use change is referring to changes in natural resources, particularly deforestation. Because this information is provided ‘per capita’ it is showing how much of emissions are released per person.
On this map you’ll notice that there are very few countries in the ‘red zone.’ The few that are emitting the most greenhouse gases per person include Belize, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kuwait, Qatar, U.A.E., and Guyana. Interestingly enough, these are much smaller, much more densely populated countries.
2. Per Capita GHG Emissions in 2000 Not Including Land-Use Change
Photo credit: Vinny Burgoo / Wikimedia
On this second map you’ll notice there are a few changes. This is because this map does not include the land-use change. This means that this is how extreme emissions per capita are without considering deforestation and changes in natural resources.
Countries included in the ‘red zone’ on this map are Kuwait, Qatar, and U.A.E. Many countries seem to be living very eco-friendly if we don’t include the amount of trees deforested. The United States, however, does not deforest many trees in comparison to other countries, and you’ll see that it is on the high end of greenhouse gas contribution.
3. GHG Emissions by Country in 2000 Including Land-Use Change
Photo credit: Vinny Burgoo / Wikimedia
This third map indicates the relative amount of greenhouse gases each country is emitting including land-use change. Note that it is not designated ‘per capita,’ so each country is colored without consideration of overall population. Also notice that more of the larger countries are in the ‘red zone;’ this is partly (but only partly) because larger countries also have larger populations.
In this map, the United States is quite obviously the most greenhouse gas contributing country on the planet. However, other countries that are in or are approaching the red zone include China, Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, India, Myanmar, Singapore, the Philippines, and New Guinea.
4. Per Capita Carbon Dioxide Contribution by Country Including Land-Use Change
Photo credit: Vinny Burgoo / Wikimedia
On this final map, you’ll notice further differences. This map considers each country’s Carbon emissions per capita including land-change. Carbon emissions are something we can control better than any emission type, making this map an indicator that we need to change our lifestyles.
According to this map, the most CO2 contributing countries, per capita, are the United States, Belize, the Sudan Islands, Russia, Panama, Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, and Guyana.