A Study into the Demographics having the Greatest Carbon Footprint

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been one of the biggest contributors to climate change and global warming, especially since the start of the industrial era. Studies show that atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have risen from 280 ppm to 400 ppm in the past 150 years, and combined with the rises in concentrations of other greenhouse gases, has caused a 0.85°C increase from 1880 to 2012. Although many studies have been done on greenhouse gas emissions and its relationship with climate change, socioeconomic trends in relation with greenhouse gas emissions are not well studied. The aim of this research paper is to determine which demographics produce the most greenhouse gases, and therefore propose policies to minimize the average greenhouse gas emissions per capita. Unlike past studies looking at a single particular factor, this study analyzes 14 factors to compare and contrast their respective relationships with GHG per capita. The 14 factors analyzed were: literacy Rate, GDP per capita, rural population percentage, urban population percentage, adolescent fertility rate (births per 1000 women ages 15 - 19), unemployment percentage, percent of agricultural land, research and development expenditure, renewable energy consumption (% of final energy consumption), food production index, population growth (annual %), mobile cellular subscriptions, air transport freight and forest area (% of total area).