Climate Data Information

CO2

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) occurs naturally in nature. It is produced by the burning and natural decay of organic matter, by the respiration of oxygen-using organisms and by volcanoes. In a natural state the CO2 used by plants for photosynthesis is absorbed by the oceans or taken in by marine organisms which die and sink to the bed of the ocean. In recent centuries, since the start of the industrial revolution, CO2 levels have increased as a result of human activity.

Figure 1, which is based on Marland et al (Marland, G., T.A. Boden, and R.J. Andres. 2008. Global, Regional, and National CO2 Emissions. In Trends: A Compendium of Data on Global Change. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tenn., U.S.A.), shows the increase in CO2 emissions from human activity since 1800. This has resulted in an increase in atmospheric CO2. The following graph (Figure 2) is based on readings of CO2 from the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii and measurements from the Law Dome ice core from the Antarctic.

Figure 1 and Figure 2 provide information about global Carbon Dioxide production. Figure 3 shows the Carbon Dioxide emissions for the 10 largest producers (based on the average for the period 1990 to 2008). The largest producers are USA and China, with China having almost trebled its production over this period. In terms of Carbon Dioxide per capita, Figure 4 shows the 10 largest major producers. However several small countries which had high per capita usage (principally oil producing countries) have been excluded.

A graphical representation of CO2 emissions per country and CO2 emissions per capita are also provided on a country by country basis.

The following table lists the top 20 emitters of CO2 for the period 1998 to 2008 and the top 20 countries for growth of CO2 emissions over the same period.

CO2 production by country - top 20 countries				Growth in CO2 emissions - top 20 countries
Rank	Country	Average (1998 to 2008)		Rank	Country	Growth (1998 to 2008)
1	United States	5500510		1	China	3707571
2	China	4824630		2	India	670786
3	Russia	1593641		3	Saudi Arabia	226269
4	India	1339335		4	Iran	222228
5	Japan	1220173		5	Russia	197383
6	Germany	827120		6	Indonesia	195818
7	United Kingdom	540039		7	Korea	145330
8	Canada	532020		8	Kazakhstan	111891
9	Italy	454934		9	Mexico	103667
10	Korea	453297		10	Thailand	99229
11	Iran	414104		11	Malaysia	94080
12	Mexico	411653		12	Egypt	88078
13	South Africa	390947		13	Viet Nam	79603
14	France	383132		14	Brazil	79207
15	Australia	353528		15	Turkey	78558
16	Brazil	342846		16	United Arab Emirates	73571
17	Ukraine	330626		17	Pakistan	65515
18	Saudi Arabia	327488		18	Canada	65210
19	Spain	319584		19	South Africa	63659
20	Poland	309994		20	Nigeria	55573
					...other top 20 emitters	...
				22	Spain	54602
				23	Japan	48977
				23	Australia	52306
				41	United States	11936
				65	Italy	3367
				200	Ukraine	-5105
				208	Poland	-10869
				212	United Kingdom	-31283
				213	France	-32108
				215	Germany	-108873

Another way of looking at Carbon Dioxide use is per $ GDP. The dollar used for these calculation is based on the PPP (purchasing power parity). This graph is based on a subset of the countries in the two previous graphs and so may exclude some countries with high use of CO2 relative to GDP. The lower the value the more efficient a country in its use of carbon dioxide. As can be seen in Figure 5, the countries of the former Soviet block had high levels of carbon dioxide use per $ GDP but have been improving rapidly.

The EU future prospects for reducing CO2 emissions are tabulated in the following link: EU CO2 prospects

The current global levels of CO2 are probably higher than have occurred during the last few ice ages and warm interglacial periods, as shown in Figure 6, which is based on data from the Vostok Ice Core in Antarctica. It shows a maximum level in the ice core of around 300 ppm. However, present levels in the atmosphere are higher, at over 380 ppm. Over time the gas trapped in ice migrates to adjacent layers and the difference in the age of the ice and the gas trapped in it can be hundreds of years: this means the concentration of a gas in the ice is the average level over several hundred years and a rise like the recent one over a period of a few decades would not be noticed. The graph also includes temperature, which shows that temperature and CO2 rise at the same time but the CO2 lags behind temperature during the falling phase. It is now generally accepted that temperature rises as a result of the Milankovitch cycles and CO2 responds to this increase but may be an amplifying factor.