COULD developed nations be to blame for China鈥檚 greenhouse gas emissions? A study of the source of these emissions suggests so.
Economists say that one-third of China鈥檚 human-made emissions are pumped into the atmosphere while manufacturing goods for export. Climatologists have long thought this was likely, but few had tried to quantify the effect until now.
Christopher Weber of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and colleagues combined a standard model of the Chinese economy, which reflects how much money flows in and out of different sectors, with nationally produced emissions data. They calculated that in 2005 the export industry generated 1.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide 鈥� 33 per cent of China鈥檚 total emissions.
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How to apportion the liability for emissions due to China鈥檚 exports is 鈥渢he million dollar question鈥�, says Weber. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just like narcotics,鈥� says Benito M眉ller of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, UK. 鈥淲ho is responsible, the drug baron or the junkies?鈥�
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