CO2 Emissions by Country 1970-2024: Who Pollutes the MOST?🔥🔥

CO2 emissions by country from 1970 to 2024, as a live race of the top 100 emitters. The USA starts miles ahead of everyone. Then the Soviet Union falls, China joins the WTO, and the ranking at the top changes for good. Every number is fossil CO2 in million tonnes a year: fossil fuels, cement and other industry, not counting land use or forests. The top 10 carry a chibi face each, from Sukuna at #1 (the biggest emitter) to Anya at #10. Ranks 11 to 90 share one face per band of 20, and from #91 down it is Saitama, the palest colour on the map. A green arrow next to a number means that country's emissions are falling that year. Countries are drawn on today's borders all the way back to 1970, so Russia, Ukraine, Germany and the rest appear as they are now, not as the Soviet Union or East and West Germany. The source splits the old states back into today's countries. Two entries are combined because the source only publishes them together: "Serbia & Montenegro" includes Kosovo, and "Sudan + S. Sudan" is Sudan and South Sudan as one figure. Years between data points are interpolated so the race moves smoothly; every year the counter lands on shows the published figure. CHAPTERS 0:00 The top 100 emitters in 1970 0:30 1970s CO2 emissions: the USA far ahead 1:55 1980s: India enters the top 10 3:20 1990s: the Soviet Union ends 4:45 2000s: China passes the USA 6:10 2010s: India climbs to #3 7:35 2020s: COVID and the 2024 top 10 #co2 #climatechange #maps Source: EDGAR 2025 (European Commission JRC / IEA), fossil CO2 excluding land use, via World Bank indicator EN.GHG.CO2.MT.CE.AR5 (updated 2026-07-13). Serbia & Montenegro from the EDGAR 2025 GHG booklet directly.