I was watching this video earlier today and there were a few surprises on there, for me at least (I had the top 3, and probably 6 out of 10 of the list before watching). Can you 'dopers guess the top 10 without doing a search or watching the video? Which countries do you expect to make the top 10? Or, how about the top 5?
Answers in the spoiler box for anyone who doesn’t want to watch the video.
[spoiler]10. Canada (557 mtCO2 emitted per year)
9. South Korea (592 mtCO2 emitted per year)
8. Saudi Arabia (601 mtCO2 emitted per year)
7. Iran (648 mtCO2 emitted per year)
6. Germany (798 mtCO2 emitted per year)
5. Japan (1,237 mtCO2 emitted per year)
4. Russian Federation (1,617 mtCO2 emitted per year)
3. India (2,274 mtCO2 emitted per year)
2. USA (5,414 mtCO2 emitted per year)
Well let’s define polluting? For your average joe, when you say polluting, the assumption is that the company etc. is violating some permit or law on emissions. But that’s not the case.
As noted in the spoiler box it’s mtC02 per year. So it’s not surprising that the most populated countries are going to be the largest polluters, and the largest industrial companies are going to be some of the largest polluters as defined, even though the emissions are legal and within permitted amounts.
Companies/countries that produce energy, convert commodities, etc. are going to be your biggest legal polluters.
So people that complain about polluters shouldn’t use electricity, gasoline, or paper; eat beef, chicken, or pork; etc.
[QUOTE=Omar Little]
Well let’s define polluting? For your average joe, when you say polluting, the assumption is that the company etc. is violating some permit or law on emissions. But that’s not the case.
[/QUOTE]
Didn’t realize there would be any confusion…I figured that’s what they were talking about (as you noted, CO2 emissions are the gauge they are using, though they mention other stuff too) before I watched the video and based my own top 10 on that.
I don’t think this is a really fair comparison to make. Let’s say that the amount of steel the US uses each year requires the emission of 1,000 mtCO2. If we import that steel from China then that 1,000 mtCO2 counts against them and not us.
It’s not supposed to be a ‘fair’ comparison…it’s simply a comparison of what they emit, not trying to see who has the moral high ground or whatever. The REASON why China is on the top 10 is simply that they emit more than countries that aren’t, without regard to why they do so. The US, as you noted, is also on the list for similar reasons (as are all of the other countries that made the list)…we make stuff and our people use electricity in large amounts and drive cars.
So, this makes it easier for those who might still be guessing…the US and China are on the list.
I’ve not clicked yet and I’m curious how they’ve defined “polluting”. I’ll still guess the USA is up there in the top 3. I’m basing that on our size and our consumption. Additionally, our miles of coastline.
…Now that I’ve clicked, it seems to be defined as CO2 emissions. Though Japan being mentioned didn’t surprise me, #9 on the list did. Silly me.
I actually missed 7-10…none of them were ones I thought of. 10 especially, to me, was a bit of a surprise, though in hindsight it shouldn’t have been. I had the order a bit off on the others but had them all on my list.
I’d argue that for the average joe, when you say polluting, they think not of CO2, which will fuck up the planet years from now - but of things that will make you sick today, like PM[sub]2.5,[/sub] NO[sub]x[/sub], ground-level ozone, VOCs. And the legality of the pollution wouldn’t necessarily enter into the average joe’s mind.
If we go with those pollutants, and measure on a per-capita basis, I’ll wager the list looks very different.
Part of what that’s measuring is simply size. The bigger and more populous a country is, the more of just about anything you’d expect it to do, including polluting (however you measure it).
Wouldn’t it be more meaningful to know something like emissions per capita?
My first ideas were of poorer countries. After a second thought I realized it would probably be tied to consumption. I’m marginally curious how the list would look based on a different metric. (Rhetorically) Stick with air pollution, but let’s look at particles… or SO2.
Not that I’m complaining, but that’s an article from 2014 which IIUC shows data from 2011. I can’t help wondering how/whether those emissions levels have been changing over the past few years.
Well, Ontario, the most populous province in Canada, has shut down all coal-fired electricity plants, for one. So, I’m sure our footprint is different today than in 2011.
