Global Warming

China’s Incentive To Pollute: Global Warming Is Big Business

While most countries are fast decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, China’s overall carbon emissions almost tripled between 2000 and 2018. The country now accounts for almost 30 percent of the world’s carbon emissions, while only numbering 18 percent of the world’s population.

China’s rapid economic growth, averaging about 9.1 percent annually since 2000, according to self-reported figures and based in large part on fossil-fuels, is alone sufficient to push global warming beyond the safe temperature of 2°C within 16 years.

China is disincentivized to limit its own greenhouse gas emissions as 1) its internal economy depends on the burning of cheap energy, and 2) its growing clean energy exports, including solar, wind, hydro, and nuclear, depend on world demand to limit the effects of global warming. China’s authoritarian leadership depends for its survival on compensating its population, which cannot vote, through quick and dirty economic growth.

The Northeast warms ahead of rest of USA

Northeast states are among the fastest warming in the U.S., a trend that can be detected down to the county level. Here’s a look at how air temperatures in each county over the past five years compares with 20th century averages. In much of the region, the greatest temperature changes follow the coastline.