Global cumulative CO2 emissions 1750-2020, by region

From 1750 through to 1900, countries in Europe had already released more than 30 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide (GtCO2) into the atmosphere from fossil fuel combustion. This accounted for roughly three quarters of the total CO2 emissions ever produced during this period. Although the United States began industrializing later than several European countries, it had produced a total of 92 GtCO2 by 1950. This was almost equal to the total amount that had been produced in Europe. In this same year, China had emitted just 1.87 GtCO2. However, rapid economic development in the following decades would see emissions in China surge, and by 2020 the country had emitted a total 235 GtCO2. This represented 14.62 percent of total cumulative CO2 emissions produced globally since 1750.

This dramatic rise in emissions has seen China become the second largest CO2 emitter in history. However, this is still considerably less than has been produced in the United States, which as of 2020 stood 416.72 GtCO2.