Within a few weeks, the Climate Change Conference for the United Nations is going to take place in Copenhagen.  At this conference, the entire world is going to start focusing on global warming and pollution.  There are many challenges that we face on a global level today when it comes to climate change and pollution and in order to get all the work done, countries are going to have to come together in order to make a difference.

Of course, if you’re going to start building towards a future that is cleaner, it is important to understand what is going on in the present.  One way to get a handle on what is going on today is to start looking at the countries that are putting out the most pollution today.  The New Ecologist has provided a new chart that shows who the biggest polluters are in the world.  This chart is based upon the carbon dioxide emissions of each country, and you may even be surprised to find out which countries are polluting our globe the most today.

While you may think that the United States is in the lead, you’ll actually find that China, which is a country that uses a lot of coal, is quite a bit beyond the United States in their total amount of emissions.  However, when it comes to the per capita releases, they are still behind.  Some other names that you may be surprised to see on the high end include both Iran and Saudi Arabia.  They are both big emitters of pollution, and interestingly enough, Australia has higher emissions per capita than Canada and the United States do.

Finding out which countries put out the most pollution is informative and somewhat surprising.  It is very important to get an idea of each country and the amount of pollution they are putting out.  It is also a good idea to look at the countries that have booming economies, since they are more likely to start emitting more emissions in the next few years.

When it comes to Americans, it is quite frustrating that so many people refuse to try to reduce the amount of emissions.  It is clear that this country is responsible for a huge part of the global problem with pollution today.  It doesn’t make sense that small and poor countries should be forced to cut back on emissions before the United States cuts back.  This is definitely the wrong mindset to have.  Perhaps had this country taken the lead in reducing emissions and doing the right thing, perhaps we’d have better technology and be able to be a good example to other countries across the world.

As we look at where we are today, hopefully the upcoming Climate Change Conference that is going to occur in Copenhagen will make a difference.  Hopefully the world will begin to see the importance of making changes and get the world moving in a direction that is more sustainable.