Global Warming: Seven Top List of Contributors

A team of researchers led by Damon Matthews, associate professor in Concordia University’s Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, found that more than sixty percent of the anthropogenic global warming that occurred before 2005 was produced by just seven countries. United States, China, Russia, Brazil, India, Germany and the United Kingdom top the list of countries that contributed to the hike in the temperature of the earth’s climate system.

The study assigns a value to each country that indicates its contribution to the observed global warming. According to the reports provided by the experts US alone is responsible for a global temperature increase of 0.15 degrees Celsius, which amounts to twenty percent of the observable global warming. The main sources of pollution are from power plants burning coal and vehicles burning gasoline. China and Russia contribute eight percent each. Pollution in China has caused drastic changes in the climate like more droughts, typhoons arriving earlier and wetlands drying up faster which in turn is affecting the food, water and energy surety, reports say. Russia is experiencing warmer weather and less amount of snow as a result of the phenomenon. India and Brazil follow next, both adding up to seven percent. Brazil experiences extreme rain storms, droughts and a rise in sea level. India’s livestock, such as cows and goats, also contribute to global warming in the country. According to researchers, when livestock burp, belch and excrete ample amounts of methane they add to global warming more than gasoline vehicles.UK and Germany contributed five percent each with other nations constituting the remaining forty percent. France, Indonesia and Canada completed the list as top ten largest contributors to global warming, the researchers said in a statement.

“Using data from 1750 onward, the team accounted for carbon dioxide contributions from fossil fuel burning and land-use change, along with methane, nitrous oxide and sulphate aerosol emissions,” Concordia University said. Different countries are responsible for different kinds of emissions, researchers said. The report concluded that ‘ If we are to have a chance of staying below two °C while also addressing fundamentally important issues associated with international equity, it is imperative that developed countries do not allow their greenhouse gas emissions to continue increasing at historical rates.’