Cumulative carbon emissions

When considering the contribution that countries make to carbon in the atmosphere it's important to take into account the cumulative emissions, because the lifetime of carbon dioxide is between 50 and 200 years. Thus, responsibility for climate change caused by such emissions should rest on countries that have emitted more than their fair share in the past, as well as current emitters.

Australia has contributed four times as much carbon dioxide per capita over the past half century as the world average. Does it therefore have a responsibility to reduce its ongoing emissions to below the per capita average?



Here's how the two superpowers of today compare in absolute figures (per capita the difference would be greater still):



Cumulative carbon figures are from the Encyclopedia of Earth and Time for change.