GEOG 438W
Human Dimensions of Global Warming

A shared budget

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An important consideration of the carbon budget is understanding that it is effectively a shared account. 

Imagine that you and your friends (or roommates, siblings, family, whomever) share a single bank account and must each use it to pay your bills, buy the things you need, and maybe even have some leftover for fun once in a while.  But what if you've got that one friend that's always taking more? There's only so much money you can then withdraw before you'll start incurring overdraft fees. Think of the United States as that spend-happy roommate you're sharing your bank account with. Take a look.

This animated graphic (no audio) from Carbon Brief demonstrates the cumulative CO2 emissions since 1750 for countries around the world. As you watch it, take note of the scale of emissions across the top (eventually, the top country's bar almost appears to be standing still, but that's just because they're running out of room and running the scale to the left).


We've talked (briefly) about issues of equity, fairness, and climate justice - particularly as they relate to vulnerability to the impacts of climate change.  While China is currently the largest annual emitter of greenhouse gases (having surpassed the US in 2017), the US is historically the biggest emitter.  This means that during UN climate negotiations, many countries view the US as having a larger (or at least a large) responsibility to reducing emissions. In other words, we've enjoyed the largely unfettered economic growth and prosperity it has created since the Industrial Revolution with little in the way of climate considerations as limitations. Now, isn't it our responsibility to take an active role in addressing a problem we've had a large role in creating? Should we not use our relative economic strength, built on carbon-intensive activities, to reduce our own emissions and help ensure the most vulnerable among our global family are protected?  

And then this happened while I was updating this lesson. To continue on with the shared bank account analogy, that roommate that drains your shared account regularly has announced they will no longer be making any deposits.  

Tweet from Secretary Pompeo announcing formal process to withdraw from Paris Agreement
Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, announces the US has formally begun the process of withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. This process takes one year and will be fully executed one day after the 2020 US presidential election.
Credit: Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo via Twitter November, 4th 2019