How fast is "pollution" moving East?

Nicole Andréa Mathys and Jean-Marie Grether have a series of interesting papers using concepts from physics to look at the "centre" of different variables.

CO2 is the new target and not surprisingly the trend is a dramatic shift east.

Some great pictures and interesting reading. This is a good use of innovative techniques and google maps.

What is of primary interest is that CO2 emissions are moving eastwards MORE quickly than production volumes. The implications are potentially serious. For 10 points explain why these trends differ.

How fast is the World's Center of CO2 Emissions Moving Eastwards?

Nicole Andréa Mathys, University of Neuchâtel and Swiss Federal Office of Energy
Grether Jean-Marie

Abstract

Borrowing from physics the concept of center of mass and applying it to the distribution of CO2 anthropogenic sources provided by the EDGAR data base, we can draw on the Earth’s surface the trajectory of the world’s pollution center of gravity over the 1970-2005 period. It is strongly heading to the East, and more so than GDP, which suggests that Asian production is getting more CO2 intensive than Western production.

Suggested Citation

Nicole Andréa Mathys and Grether Jean-Marie. 2009. "How fast is the World's Center of CO2 Emissions Moving Eastwards?" The Selected Works of Nicole Andréa Mathys
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/nicole_mathys/8