America's Really Big Carbon Footprint Overshadows The Rest Of The World

Just what is it about living in the U.S. that has landed us at the top of the carbon emissions heap? Well, for one thing, we like our energy, and lots of it thank you very much. Central heating, cooling, lighting, transportation, industry, agriculture -- practically every modern convenience we've come to count on is made possible by one of our all time favorite resources, fossil fuels. From oil to coal and gas, each resource may be organically-derived, but that doesn't mean that they're good for the environment once we hit them with a match. The by-product of our energy consumption ends up being a series of gases that collect in our upper atmposphere, creating an insulating effect that traps heat around our planet, otherwise known as global warming. This is the phenomenon responsible for messing up our weather patterns, breaking off massive continent-sized slabs of polar ice and causing a fast and furious meltdown in the natural environment.  

Current statistics suggest that approximately 26 billion tons of carbon dioxide are produced every year, and unfortunately that number is expected to continue rising despite more prevalent going green sentiments. We've seen an upward trend in the amount of global carbon emissions produced, from 2% growth throughout the 1970s and 1980s to a 3% increase each year since 2000 and that 3% figure is anticipated to continue at a steady clip until 2030. All of these facts and figures may raise eyebrows but we tend to be complacent and matter-of-fact about them, after all...what do they really mean? Yes, we're a wasteful nation, but we're trying to reform our ways. We just need a little more time to make the grand lifestyle adjustment...even Rome wasn't built in a day.

I think that it all really hits home when we can see how U.S. carbon emissions stack up against our global counterparts. The following statistics were gleaned from a US Energy Information Administration report, and as they say, numbers don't lie.

• In the year 1950, each US citizen produced 16.21 metric tons of CO2 vs. the average global citizen's 2.32 metric tons
• In the year 1960, each US citizen produced 15.42 metric tons of CO2 vs. the average global citizen's 3.05 metric tons
• In the year 1970, each US citizen produced 20.36 metric tons of CO2 vs. the average global citizen's 3.89 metric tons
• In the year 1980, each US citizen produced 20.87 metric tons of CO2 vs. the average global citizen's 4.23 metric tons
• In the year 1990, each US citizen produced 19.17 metric tons of CO2 vs. the average global citizen's 4.04 metric tons
• In the year 2000, each US citizen produced 20.33 metric tons of CO2 vs. the average global citizen's 3.93 metric tons

To say that these numbers are staggering would be a huge understatement, but are they enough to make any of us change our ways? What will really push us over the edge to fundamentally alter our lifestyles?