One of the major contributors to climate change is carbon dioxide (CO2). Even though the growth in emission is increasing. Emissions from the burning of fossil fuels stood at a record 8.38 gigatons of carbon (GtC) in 2006, 20 percent above the level in 2000. Emissions grew 3.1 percent a year between 2000 and 2006, more than twice the rate of growth during the 1990s. Carbon dioxide emissions have been growing steadily for 200 years, since fossil-fuel burning began on a large scale at the start of the Industrial Revolution.
five countries are responsible for over half of fossil-fuel-related CO2 emissions, with the United States and China alone accounting for more than a third. The United States has been the world’s largest emitter for over a century, releasing 1.66 GtC in 2006, or 19.8 percent of global emissions. In China, which is currently opening an average of two coal-fired power plants a week, emissions have more than doubled since 1990, reaching 1.48 GtC in 2006, or 17.7 percent of the world total. Analysts expect that China will overtake the United States to become the world’s largest emitter before 2009.
You can download the book “Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization” from http://www.earthpolicy.org/Books/PB3/Contents.htm
– from http://www.earthpolicy.org/Indicators/CO2/2008_data.htm, http://www.earthpolicy.org/Indicators/CO2/2008.htm