(*Update: Newer and better versions of  these maps are here.)

Because I love maps so much that I just can’t stop making them.

This version is a bit a more conceptual than the previous map. But even though it’s a bit weirder, but I actually like it more because it really drives home the outsize significance of US climate policy.

Each state, or cluster of states, is labelled with a country or continent that has equivalent greenhouse gas emissions.

se climate map_300

See the full US map here.

The 291 million in Americans (in 2004) is the greenhouse gas equivalent of the more than 3 billion residents of other countries listed on the map.

The detailed population comparison is below the jump…

  • Our work is made possible by the generosity of people like you!

    Thanks to Janet Alderton for supporting a sustainable Cascadia.

  • Number of people, 2003 (in millions)

    Africa 853.2  42.1 AR + DC + KY + MD+ MO + NC + TN + VA + WV
    Argentina 38.7    7.5 AZ + NM
    Brazil 182.0    9.4 IA + MN + ND + SD
    France 60.2  35.5 CA
    Germany 82.4  51.7 NJ + NY + OH + PA
    India 1,049.7  33.0 LA + MS+ OK + TX
    Indonesia 234.9  15.5 MI + WI
    Ireland 3.9    3.5 CT
    Israel 6.1    0.5 WY
    Italy 58.0  18.8 IL + IN
    Jordan 5.5    0.8 DE
    Malaysia 23.1  10.7 MA + ME + NH + RI + VT
    Morocco 31.7    0.9 MT
    Pakistan 156.1    4.6 NV + UT
    Philippines 84.6    6.1 WA
    Sweden 9.0    4.9 ID + OR
    Thailand 63.3    9.0 CO + KS + NE
    UK 60.1  34.4 AL + GA + FL + SC
    Norway 4.6    0.6 AK
    Ecuador 13.1    1.2 HI
    Total 3,020 291 Total

    The full map for the US is here.

    The methodology is the same as the last time around. All data are from the US Department of Energy. Ghg data are an average of the period from 2001 to 2003; population data are for 2003. Emissions are from energy use only and they do not include carbon sinks. Countries are considered “equivalent” if their total emissions are within 10 percent of a state’s emissions. Obviously, there a million ways to slice these comparisons since many states and countries have similar levels of emissions.