Which countries in the world pollute the most?

“Our World in Data”

According to the data contained on the site “Our World in Data”, which collects numerous statistics on the environment, economy and demography, China tops the ranking of overall emissions, with 9,838,754,028 tons of CO2 emitted into the air. Followed by the United States, whose President Joe Biden has not lacked, in recent times, numerous criticisms on the front of climate change and pollution. The USA remains the second worst polluter in the world, with 5,269,529,513 tons of CO2 emitted into the air. In third place is India, another country in economic growth, with 2,466,765,373 tons of CO2 emitted into the air. Followed by Russia (1,692,794,839 tons), Japan (1,205,061,178), Germany (799,373,210), Iran (672,312,342), Saudi Arabia 635,011,087, South Korea (616,096,686 ) and Canada (572,782,585) to stay in the top ten.

Italy is in nineteenth place with 355,454,172 tons of CO2 emitted into the air each year.

Domestic heating is the main source of pollution

According to a study conducted by the Institute of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences of the National Research Council together with the Universities of Urbino and Vienna, domestic heating is at the top of the main causes of air pollution with a percentage equal to 38% of the total of Italian particulate matter (PM). Therefore, it pollutes more than the traffic of cars with petrol and diesel engines.

The particulate particles scattered in the air have various origins, both natural and man-made, and it is estimated that 3 million people die every year because of them.

In the first case, natural phenomena such as forest fires, volcanic activity, soil or rock erosion, sea spray, the dispersion of pollen or spores influence the diffusion of particulate matter in the air. In the second case, however, the particulate matter is caused by our activities, in particular by all combustion processes, from heating homes to vehicle traffic and industrial activity.

The particulate therefore can be found in high concentrations both in outdoor and indoor air.

The effects of particulate matter

According to the latest study by the European Environment Agency (EEA), around 400,000 Europeans die prematurely every year from fine particles.

In the UK alone, toxic air is estimated to take 50,000 lives annually, and this year the European Commission took the UK government to court for breaching EU air quality rules.

Italy is in second place in the ranking of countries that have the highest number of deaths caused by poor air quality (79,820).

The food sector emits at least a third of global greenhouse gas emissions

The food sector remains one of the main causes of greenhouse gas emissions and in Italy 85% of emissions in the food sector concern foods of animal origin. The food sector accounts for at least one third of global greenhouse gas emissions. An enormous share, which varies between 25% and 42% depending on the European country.

Labeling foods according to a scale of greater or lesser environmental impact could help consumers make informed choices. A traffic light label similar to those relating to the energy efficiency of household appliances was proposed some time ago, which would indicate the amount of CO2 associated with the product to be purchased. At the moment, on many products there are already labels that indicate whether the food in question has been produced according to certain standards, such as for example the label attributed to organic or fair trade products. These labels help consumers make an informed choice when shopping and also indicate the companies’ commitment to high standards of production. However, these are limited tools, because they provide information on a single aspect of the production process.

Green Deal europeo: l’importanza di fare scelte consapevoli e sostenibili

In view of the commitments made for the European Green Deal which provides for climate neutrality by 2050 and a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030, something concrete should be done, first of all limiting the polluting capacity of the food sector and raising awareness of how much the population as possible on the importance of making sustainable choices to protect our planet and our lives.