Reality → Energy → World energy → Global warming
| CO2 from fossil fuels | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| specific | absolute 2021 | ||||
| Mt/EJ | Gt/a | ||||
| coal | 90 | coal | 15 | 44% | |
| oil | 70 | oil | 13 | 36% | |
| gas | 50 | gas | 7 | 20% | |
| total | 35 | 100% | |||
| Largest emissions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| absolute | per capita | ||||
| Gt/a | t/a | factor | |||
| World total | 35 | 100% | 4 | 1 | |
| China | 11 | 32% | 8 | 1.8 | |
| United States | 5 | 13% | 14 | 3.1 | |
| India | 3 | 8% | 2 | 0.5 | |
Present (2023) combustion of fossil fuels emits 35 billion tons per year of CO2 into the atmosphere, increasing the atmospheric CO2 concentration by about 2 ppm (parts per million) per year. The ensuing greenhouse effect is believed to cause global warming at the present rate of 0.9 °C per decade. Anthropogenic climate change is believed to result in serious ecological and economic harm exacerbated by escalating energy needs of a growing world population. UN-patronized international treaties (e.g. Kyoto, Paris, Copenhagen, Doha, Glasgow) aimed to limit global warming but have had little effect. Two of the most debated and rarely implemented measures to reduce CO2 emissions include carbon taxation (adopted by only few countries) and Carbon Capture and Storage for coal-fired power plants (very costly, with secure underground CO2 deposition hardly possible).