Total global carbon emissions and uptake 1750-2019| ��ƽ��

Cumulative volume of global carbon emissions and carbon sequestration by broad source in selected periods between 1750 and 2019 (in gigatons of carbon)

Characteristic	1750-2019	1850-2019	1959-2019
Emissions: fossil fuels	445	445	365
Emissions: land-use change	255	210	85
Sink: oceans	170	160	105
Sink: terrestrial	230	210	145
Increase in atmospheric CO₂	285	265	205

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Release date

2020

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Region

Worldwide

Survey time period

1750 to 2019

Supplementary notes

Figures are estimates, and margins of error are as follows (with variations by period shown by starting year):
Fossil fuel emissions: +/- 20 (all time periods)
Land use change emissions: 1750: +/- 70, 1850: +/-60, 1959: +/- 45
Ocean sink: +/- 20 (all time periods)
Terrestrial sink: 1750: +/- 60, 1850: +/-55, 1959: +/-35
Atmospheric CO₂ growth: +/-5 (all time periods)

Citation formats

Between 1750 and 2019, approximately 700 gigatons of carbon have been released into the atmosphere via human activity. Almost two thirds of this was in the form of fossil fuel emissions, while the rest was due to land-use change i.e., converting land for agricultural, commercial, or urban purposes. There was virtually no difference in the quantity of CO₂ released from fossil fuels in the periods beginning in 1750 and 1850, as the majority of these emissions have come in the past century - in fact, roughly 82 percent of all fossil fuel emissions released between 1750 and 2019 were released after 1959.

The earth's oceans, land, and atmosphere all absorb these emissions to varying degrees, however the share of carbon sequestered by the oceans and land has decreased over time, meaning that higher quantities of carbon remain in the atmosphere. This surplus of carbon dioxide traps heat in the atmosphere, and human activity in recent years has accelerated this to an unsustainable level.