This data shows recorded levels of CO2 emissions per year (measured in 1000 tonnes of CO2) by country from the 1800s until 2017. Since the emissions of the US, India, and China quickly go past the scale of the first graph, another graph was included to explicitly show the emissions of these three countries over time. It is interesting to see that the United States was the highest emitter of CO2 until the 1980’s when China quickly surpassed it. Today, China emits more than the United States and India combined. If we want to stop CO2 emissions, the world needs to also turn their its to China.
It is important to understand the background of pollution and what we have done as humans to get us to this point. This video emphasizes the need to stop the use of coal for electricity production. That is the main contributor to the problem this world faces with greenhouse gases.
This graph displays the change in average temperature in several countries from 1900 to 2013. It is important to note that the temperatures were all taken on January 1st, which is the wintertime in the Northern Hemisphere. The color of the countries is not important here, but the change in color is. Countries such as Greenland have experienced an average temperature increase of 4.016 degrees celsius in the last century. This might not seem like much, but 3 degrees has a huge impact on the environment.
3 degrees of change may not seem like much to the average person, but to many people around the world, it could mean life or death. Temperature change can cause extreme drought and fights over access to dwindling water sources. It means the melting of Himalayan glaciers and extreme floods washing homes away and mass migration toward cities.
Looking at this data, it is clear that there is a correlation between rising temperatures and extreme weather events. It is unlikely that there were that few extreme weather events in the early 1900's. It is more likely that these events were not recorded.It is more likely that these events were not recorded. However there is still a noticeable linear trend since the 1960’s.
This graph shows another positive linear trend indicating a correlation between rising global temperatures, CO2 Emissions and Earthquakes.
This graph shows another positive linear trend indicating a correlation between rising global temperatures, CO2 Emissions, and Floods. Rising temperatures oftentimes melt glaciers which cause rivers to overflow and presents a huge problem for towns and cities built at or below sea level.
This graph shows yet another positive linear trend indicating a correlation between rising global temperatures, CO2 Emissions, and Droughts. Rising temperatures can also cause limited water sources like those in parts of Africa to dry up. This not only presents a problem for nutrition but also causes great political conflict. Regions in Africa and the Middle East begin to fight over access to the limited water sources further distracting from the real problem at hand. Our carbon footprint.
More on DroughtsAnalyzing this data, it is clear to see the positive linear trend in wildfires over the years in the United States. For fires to start, there must be three elements present, Oxygen, Heat and Fuel. There are countless ways to start a forest fire, we've seen a singular cigarette burn down acres of trees in California. Increasing temperatures add more heat to the fire equation and decrease the amount of water present in a region. With temperatures rising, dry forested areas are more and more likely to burn. Below is a link to all the current wildfires going on in the United States.
Current Wild Fires