Greenhouse gas emissions by the United States information
Climate changing gases from the North American country
This article is about gases from the United States which contribute to climate change, and their mitigation. For all the other aspects of climate change in this country, see Climate change in the United States.
Transportation in the United States is the largest source of greenhouse gas[1]
Though the U.S.'s per capita and per GDP emissions have declined significantly, the raw numerical decline in emissions is much less substantial.[2]
The U.S. has among the highest per person emissions, of the countries that emit the most greenhouse gases.[3]
US greenhouse gas emissions by economic sector, 2022[4]
Transportation (28.4%)
Electricity generation (24.9%)
Industry (22.9%)
Agriculture (10.0%)
Commercial (7.3%)
Residential (6.2%)
U.S. territories (0.4%)
The United States produced 5.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2020,[5] the second largest in the world after greenhouse gas emissions by China and among the countries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions per person. In 2019 China is estimated to have emitted 27% of world GHG, followed by the United States with 11%, then India with 6.6%.[6] In total the United States has emitted a quarter of world GHG, more than any other country.[7][8][9] Annual emissions are over 15 tons per person and, amongst the top eight emitters, is the highest country by greenhouse gas emissions per person.[10]
The IEA estimates that the richest decile in the US emits over 55 tonnes of CO2 per capita each year.[11] Because coal-fired power stations are gradually shutting down, in the 2010s emissions from electricity generation fell to second place behind transportation which is now the largest single source.[12] In 2020, 27% of the GHG emissions of the United States were from transportation, 25% from electricity, 24% from industry, 13% from commercial and residential buildings and 11% from agriculture.[12]
U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions decreased by 3% in 2023, amounting to a reduction of approximately 134 million metric tons (MMmt). This reduction primarily occurred in the electric power sector, with a significant shift from coal-fired power to more sustainable energy sources like solar and natural gas.[13]
In 2021, the electric power sector was the second largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 25% of the U.S. total.[14] These greenhouse gas emissions are contributing to climate change in the United States, as well as worldwide.
^US EPA, OAR (2015-08-25). "Fast Facts on Transportation Greenhouse Gas Emissions". www.epa.gov. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
^"Climate Change Indicators: U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions / Figure 3. U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions per Capita and per Dollar of GDP, 1990–2020". EPA.gov. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023.
^● "Territorial (MtCO2)". GlobalCarbonAtlas.org. Retrieved 30 December 2021. (choose "Chart view"; use download link) ● Data for 2020 is also presented in Popovich, Nadja; Plumer, Brad (November 12, 2021). "Who Has The Most Historical Responsibility for Climate Change?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 29, 2021. ● Source for country populations: "List of the populations of the world's countries, dependencies, and territories". britannica.com. Encyclopedia Britannica.
^"Greenhouse Gas Inventory Data Explorer | US EPA". cfpub.epa.gov. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
^US EPA, OAR (2017-02-08). "Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks". www.epa.gov. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
^"Report: China emissions exceed all developed nations combined". BBC News. 2021-05-07.
^"Cumulative CO2 emissions globally by country 2018". Statista. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
^"The world is still falling short of meeting its climate goals". Environment. 2021-10-26. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
^"Who has contributed most to global CO2 emissions?". Our World in Data. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
^Ge, Mengpin; Friedrich, Johannes; Vigna, Leandro (2020-02-06). "4 Charts Explain Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Countries and Sectors". World Resources Institute. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
^IEA (2023), The world’s top 1% of emitters produce over 1000 times more CO2 than the bottom 1%, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/commentaries/the-world-s-top-1-of-emitters-produce-over-1000-times-more-co2-than-the-bottom-1, License: CC BY 4.0
^ abEPA, OA, US (2015-12-29). "Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions - US EPA". US EPA. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
^"U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions decreased by 3% in 2023 - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
^"Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions". EPA. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
and 27 Related for: Greenhouse gas emissions by the United States information
TheUnitedStates produced 5.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhousegas (GHG) emissions in 2020, the second largest in the world...
by about 50% over pre-industrial levels. The growing levels of emissions have varied, but have been consistent among all greenhousegases. Emissions in...
sovereign states and territories bygreenhousegasemissions due to certain forms of human activity, based on the EDGAR database created by European Commission...
Greenhousegasemissionsby Australia totalled 533 million tonnes CO2-equivalent based on greenhousegas national inventory report data for 2019; representing...
contribute between 13% and 21% of global greenhousegasemissions. Emissions come from direct greenhousegasemissions (for example from rice production and...
In 2021, net greenhousegas (GHG) emissions in theUnited Kingdom (UK) were 427 million tonnes (Mt) carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), 80% of which was...
sovereign states and territories by per capita greenhousegasemissions due to certain forms of human activity, based on the EDGAR database created by European...
China's greenhousegasemissions are the largest of any country in the world both in production and consumption terms, and stem mainly from coal burning...
million tonnes of annual greenhousegasemissions, which are mostly carbon dioxide and part of the cause of climate change in Turkey. The nation's coal-fired...
entities bygreenhousegasemissions, i.e. thegreenhousegasemissions from companies, activities, and countries on Earth which cause climate change. The relevant...
capita emissions (top 40 countries) Total CO2 emissions for the period 1970 to 2017 and 2017 emissions, by country/region Historical greenhousegas emissions...
The Regional GreenhouseGas Initiative (RGGI, pronounced "Reggie") is the first mandatory market-based program to reduce greenhousegasemissionsby the...
Greenhousegas inventories are emission inventories of greenhousegasemissions that are developed for a variety of reasons. Scientists use inventories...
TheUnitedStates of America is a federal republic consisting of 50 states, a federal district (Washington, D.C., the capital city of theUnited States)...
Global net zero emissions describes the state where emissions of greenhousegases due to human activities, and removals of these gases, are in balance...
states to conditionally regulate greenhousegas (GHG) emissions from new cars and trucks, defeating an attempt by automakers to block state emissions...
megajoule of energy produced, or the ratio of greenhousegasemissions produced to gross domestic product (GDP). Emission intensities are used to derive...
greenhouse gas emissions per person in the world. Cumulatively, theUnitedStates has emitted over a trillion metric tons of greenhousegases, more than any...
Greenhousegasemissions from wetlands of concern consist primarily of methane and nitrous oxide emissions. Wetlands are the largest natural source of...
alarmed about the issue. TheUnitedStates produced 5.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhousegas (GHG) emissions in 2020, the second largest...
The term "UnitedStates," when used in the geographical sense, refers to the contiguous UnitedStates (sometimes referred to as the Lower 48, including...
Inventory" provides a detailed inventory of greenhousegasemissions and sinks for Kentucky in 1990. Emissions were estimated using methods from EPA's 1995...
number of challenges in creating accurate accounts of greenhousegasemissions. Scope 3 emissions, in particular, can be difficult to estimate. For example...
Projects to reduce methane emissions from landfills. An important component of these projects is the sale of avoided emissionsbythe private market to generate...
Global Information
