Where we are with climate change
The article breaks down global CO₂ emissions by country and sector, showing that China, the US, and the EU are the largest contributors, with energy production and transportation being the top emitting sectors. It highlights that cumulative historical emissions matter most for climate impact, and that current national pledges still put the world on track for over 2.5°C of warming.
Background
Every Single Indicator is a data-visualization site that tracks key climate metrics in near-real time. This particular post breaks down which countries have contributed the most cumulative CO₂ emissions since 1850 — a very different picture from who emits the most today. The key distinction: *current* annual emissions show China and India as top emitters, but *historical* cumulative emissions (the stock of CO₂ already in the atmosphere) are dominated by the US, the UK, and other early-industrializing nations. This matters because "who is responsible for climate change" is central to debates about who should pay for mitigation and adaptation, especially ahead of UN climate summits (COPs). The site itself is run by climate scientist Zeke Hausfather and statistician Robin Phillipps; it updates automatically from datasets like the Global Carbon Project, Copernicus, and NASA.