Vital Climate Graphics : Introduction to climate change
Next: The present carbon cycle

10. Volume of GHG calculated per nation and per capita. The rich countries of the world historically has emitted most of the anthropogenic greenhouse gases since the start of the industrial revolution in the latter half of the 1700s. Per capita, the significant emissions still are produced by the OECD countries.- A major issue of debate is the sharing of responsibility. Non-industrialised countries strive to increase their population's standard of living, thereby also increasing their emissions of greenhouse gases, since economic development is closely associated with energy production. The volume of GHG thus will probably increase despite the efforts to reduce emissions in industrialised countries. China has the second biggest emissions of GHG in the world. However, per capita the Chinese emissions are very low compared to the no. 1 on the list, the USA.