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Canada emits more Co2 per capita than China today, by 1.5x. But Co2 doesn't only count in 'last years'. It counts as a cumulative effect. The Co2 damage of Can
by NoLinkToMe 2y ago
Canada emits more Co2 per capita than China today, by 1.5x.
But Co2 doesn't only count in 'last years'. It counts as a cumulative effect. The Co2 damage of Canada per capita is way beyond that of China, cumulatively.
In cumulative terms, China has emitted 'only' 7.5 times as much Canada despite having 35x the population. In other words, Canada's per capita cumulative emissions are about 4.5x those of China.
And that's a lot. It means Canada has damaged way more, and should have a bigger burden to reduce future damage, or undo damage already done.
Generally yes it's always frustrating to see any country keep emitting Co2. But Canada is a worse offender, both in the past, as well as now, and that's a pretty sad record for one of the richest countries in the world which also happens to be the country with probably the biggest per-capita natural renewable resources of all time. (land for wind and solar, as well as insane hydro).
- cm2187 2y agoRatios matter little to the climate. Total volumes do. When you build your infrastructure from scratch, it makes sense not to go for XIX century technologies.
- jogjayr 2y agoI agree. It would be much better if wealthy nations subsidized clean energy technology for developing countries so that they can leapfrog the fossil fuel stage.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- SketchySeaBeast 2y agoOn the other side of the argument, borders also don't matter to the climate, so everyone should be doing everything they can instead of finger-pointing, no?
- NoLinkToMe 2y agoRatios matter a lot. If everyone behaved like Canadians we'd be fucked. If Canadians behaved like Chinese, we'd be less fucked. I was replying to someone who felt upset with China as a Canadian, and I explained his own country and its population behaves worse.
- quacked 2y agoPlease cite the raw numbers you used to make your claims, and their sources. I don't doubt that on a per capita basis Canadians emit more than Chinese do; furthermore, China is the source of many of the goods that western nations consume, and so they're producing emissions "for" the western nations in a sort of de facto shell game. However, China has no interest in giving its manufacturing base "back" to the west, and does not take emissions reduction seriously. It is a deceptive claim that Canada is "worse than China"; China is out-emitting Canada, doesn't take emissions reduction seriously, and plans to continue to out-emit Canada into the future.
- akira2501 2y ago> and so they're producing emissions "for" the western nations in a sort of de facto shell game. Then the solution is to ban Chinese imports or tax them to a level that it's no longer economically viable to import them. Problem "solved," right?
- quacked 2y agoI mean, it depends on what problem you're trying to solve. If you want to dramatically skyrocket the prices of consumer goods, reduce every American's individual buying power, tank the stock market, crater everyone's retirement accounts, and destabilize the current world economic order, then that would be a terrible move. I kind of want all that to happen, though, so I think it's a good move. I don't like living in a nation that is able to consume at a functionally unlimited level for very little national sacrifice or engagement in manufacturing and production. If manufacturing is inherently pollution-heavy, then it would be healthy for Americans, Canadians, etc. to actually bear the consequences of pollution in their own countries and then decide as nations whether or not to sustain the current levels of production, or curtail their consumption habits properly.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- 486sx33 2y ago
- threesevenths 2y agoI’m not sure you can say China’s total is 7.5x Canada’s total and say Canada has caused more damage. It might well be true that per capita is higher however you seem to be comparing apples to oranges here. And as others have mentioned sources for numbers greatly help the collective conversation.
- NoLinkToMe 2y ago> I’m not sure you can say China’s total is 7.5x Canada’s total and say Canada has caused more damage. Of course all on a per capita basis, I thought I was sufficiently clear. What is the apples to oranges comparison? Source is https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions-metrics https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions-metrics
- refurb 2y agoUnless you're not a big fan of productions - things like food, you can't compare CO2 emissions alone. It all comes down to cost-benefit. The goal is the maximum production per unit of CO2 - for every unit of CO2 you maximize what is produced from it. Yes, the US produces 13.49% of all global CO2, but it also produces 25.22% of all output. China produces 31% of all CO2 emissions, but only 17% of all production.
- josho 2y agoIf these were metrics for your startup I’d call them vanity metrics. You just used data to explain that the US captures higher margins on their products and China does a lot of low margin or commodity production. The data doesn’t help us inform an opinion of whose carbon use is better than others.
- refurb 2y agoHuh? Money is fungible so higher margin generation of CO2 is better. Whatever profit you captured can be spent on whatever.
- triceratops 2y agoThen the US should be able to do without dirty, polluting imports from China. Right?
- 486sx33 2y ago[flagged]