General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Do you enjoy beef? You're directly contributing to climate change. Beef is the new SUV. [View all]TBF
(32,060 posts)especially those in the US, China, and "Other" (mainly tropical deforestation globally) and blame one small sector.
Emissions by Country
In 2008, the top carbon dioxide (CO2) emitters were China, the United States, the European Union, India, the Russian Federation, Japan, and Canada. These data include CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion, as well as cement manufacturing and gas flaring. Together, these sources represent a large proportion of total global CO2 emissions.
Emissions and sinks related to changes in land use are not included in these estimates. However, changes in land use can be important - global estimates indicate that deforestation can account for 5 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions, or about 16% of emissions from fossil fuel sources. Tropical deforestation in Africa, Asia, and South America are thought to be the largest contributors to emissions from land-use change globally. [3] In areas such as the United States and Europe, changes in land use associated with human activities have the net effect of absorbing CO2, partially offsetting the emissions from deforestation in other regions.
http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/global.html