EnergyEnergyhttp://www.arsc.edu/pubs/factsheets/images/summerIce.0001.jpg
CO2 is thought to be the cause of global warming by most scientists. While not as dangerous to
the environment as products of incomplete combustion (see "what's wrong with the status quo"),
CO2, or carbon dioxide, is produced by the US and other industrialized nations of the world in
huge quantities. According to the US government, the United States is the largest single
producer of carbon dioxide in the world. In 1991, the U.S produced 42% of the world's carbon
dioxide.
Due to the
http://cagle.slate.msn.com/news/CO2/main.asp
industrialization of developing countries, that number is now 27% of the world's carbon,
although emissions by the United States has declined a very modest 0.7% since 1991. This trend
of increasing carbon dioxide production is dangerous to the world over, and the U.S government
has acknowledged that the dominant factor in climate change at the present time appears to be
greenhouse gasses, of which airborne carbon isthe principle member.
SOURCES OF CARBON DIOXIDE IN NORTH AMERICA
The US accounts for 97% of CO2 emissions in North America (defined as the US and Canada), thus the following
visualizations strongly resemble the CO2 output by the United States.
NORTH AMERICA
CO2 emissions from North America.
The above graph illustrates the form of carbon produced in North America in the given year. While it may not seem alarming that our subcontinent produces over 1500 million metric tons of carbon per year, the following graph show how much carbon is produced for EACH North American...and remember that 97% of North America's carbon production occurs in the United States.
Per capita CO2 emission estimates for North America.
http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming
Thate means that for each man, woman, and child in North America, about 5 metric tons of carbon is produced every year. Whoa.
