China overtakes US as world's biggest polluter

by Rich Bowden - Apr 15 2008, 01:34

A University of California team has said China's pollution has been probably underestimated and the country has already exceeded the United States as the world's biggest polluter. $China has overtaken the US as the world\'s biggest polluter according to a new report.Photo: Pollution. Credit: pfala/Flickr$

China has overtaken the US as the world\'s biggest polluter according to a new report.Photo: Pollution. Credit: pfala/Flickr

The US remains the highest per capita polluter but the team's research has found China's greenhouse gas emissions topping that of the US. The team said it was unclear just when China overtook the United States, as official Chinese data was based on 2004 estimates and it had been considered that the US remains the world's number one polluter.The team, who based their estimates on more reliable provincial-level data from the Chinese Environmental Protection Agency, have warned unless Chinese energy policy is changed, the increase in carbon emissions will drastically overshadow any greenhouse gas cuts in Western nations.Study leader Dr Max Auffhammer told BBC News, the "...figures for emissions growth are truly shocking." "But there is no sense pointing a finger at the Chinese. They are trying to pull people out of poverty and they clearly need help," he said."The only solution is for a massive transfer of technology and wealth from the West," said Dr Auffhammer while admitting the chance of this happening was very remote.The findings will be published in next month's Journal of Environment Economics and Management.

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floApr 15th, 2008 - 20:16:30

this is a very interesting article, i didn't know that the U.S. was ever the biggest polluter.

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