Environment > SO2 emissions per populated area: Countries Compared

Author: Ian Graham, Staff Editor

One of Hawaiiâ€™s most popular tourist attractions, Kilauea volcano is also the stateâ€™s worst air polluter and the United Statesâ€™ largest <a href= http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/env_so2_emi_per_pop_are>producer of sulfur dioxide (SO2)</a>. Since it began erupting in 1983, Kilauea has sent an average of 1,000 metric tons of SO2 into the atmosphere everyday, according to the Hawaii chapter of the American Lung Association, more than 6,000 times as much as a major industrial polluter. <p>When the SO2 reacts with other chemicals in the air, it creates a hazy pollution known locally as â€œvog,â€ short for volcanic smog. Press reports about vog first showed up in the 1950s, and mentioned eye irritation and allergy-like symptoms. But Big Island residents have long believed that vog is hazardous to health, and by the mid-1980s, Hawaii had the highest <a href= http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/mor_ast>asthma death rate</a> in the U.S., according to the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. <p>In 1996, a comparison between Big Island emergency visits and vog levels between 1981 and 1991 found that people in high vog exposure areas sought treatment for asthma and <a href= http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/mor_oth_chr_obs_pul_dis >chronic obstructive pulmonary disease</a> more often when vog levels were high. The U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service have developed a sulfur dioxide monitoring and advisory plan to alert visitors and workers near the Kilauea caldera in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The American Lung Association recommends that people stay indoors during periods of heavy vog.

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DEFINITION: SO2 emissions per populated land area
Units: 1000 Metric Tons/Sq. Km. of Populated Land Area
Units: We obtained the total emissions for each country by summarizing emissions data, originally available as a grid map with 1 degree x 1 degree cells. Air pollution is generally greatest in densely populated areas. To take this into account, we used the Gridded Population of the World dataset available from CIESIN and calculated the total land area in each country inhabited with a population density of greater than 5 persons per sq. km. We then used this land area as a denominator for the emissions data.

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Totals

#	COUNTRY	AMOUNT	DATE
1	Belgium	21,390 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
2	South Korea	19,430 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
3	Jamaica	17,050 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
4	Czech Republic	7,980 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
5	North Korea	7,640 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
6	Kuwait	7,120 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
7	United Kingdom	5,370 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
8	Germany	5,100 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
9	Slovakia	4,850 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
10	Bulgaria	4,610 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
11	Chile	4,380 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
12	Netherlands	4,190 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
13	Egypt	4,090 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
14	Poland	3,900 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
	High income OECD countries average (profile)	3,616 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
	European Union average (profile)	3,354.4 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
	Eurozone average (profile)	3,341.33 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
15	Israel	3,310 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
	NATO countries average (profile)	3,274.62 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
16	Libya	3,220 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
17	Denmark	2,860 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
18	Australia	2,840 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
	Group of 7 countries (G7) average (profile)	2,827.14 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=19	Canada	2,790 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=19	Italy	2,790 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
21	Jordan	2,710 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
22	China	2,680 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
	Cold countries average (profile)	2,672.16 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
23	Hungary	2,650 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
24	Tajikistan	2,610 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
25	South Africa	2,350 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
26	Slovenia	2,340 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
27	Armenia	2,290 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
	Non-religious countries average (profile)	2,229.17 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
28	Zambia	2,100 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
29	Sierra Leone	2,080 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
30	Ukraine	2,060 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
31	Romania	2,040 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
32	Croatia	1,870 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
	Middle Eastern and North Africa average (profile)	1,846.67 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
33	Greece	1,830 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
34	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1,780 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
35	Cuba	1,730 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
36	Lithuania	1,690 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=37	Azerbaijan	1,680 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=37	United States	1,680 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
39	Moldova	1,650 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
40	Tunisia	1,610 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
41	Malaysia	1,600 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
42	United Arab Emirates	1,520 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
	OPEC countries average (profile)	1,501 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
43	Finland	1,480 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
	Emerging markets average (profile)	1,472.8 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
44	Botswana	1,320 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
45	Spain	1,310 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
	Former Soviet republics average (profile)	1,172.86 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
46	Portugal	1,170 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
47	India	1,150 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
48	France	1,090 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
49	Thailand	1,070 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
	Muslim countries average (profile)	999.21 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=50	Ireland	970 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=50	Mexico	970 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=50	Japan	970 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
53	Iceland	960 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
54	Belarus	950 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
55	Russia	930 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
56	Republic of Macedonia	900 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
57	Philippines	880 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
58	Namibia	870 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
59	Austria	850 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=60	Uzbekistan	770 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=60	Sweden	770 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
62	Syria	710 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
63	El Salvador	700 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
64	Bangladesh	690 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
	Former Spanish colonies average (profile)	655.56 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
65	Turkey	650 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
66	Dominica	640 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
	South and Central Asia average (profile)	621.82 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=67	Lebanon	600 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=67	Albania	600 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
69	Venezuela	590 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=70	Estonia	580 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=70	Iraq	580 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=70	Kazakhstan	580 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
73	Saudi Arabia	560 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
	South Asia average (profile)	542.5 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
74	Algeria	540 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
75	Morocco	530 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
76	Trinidad and Tobago	520 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
77	Switzerland	510 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=78	Rwanda	490 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=78	Iran	490 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
80	Peru	450 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
81	New Zealand	440 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
82	Mongolia	430 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
83	Costa Rica	380 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=84	Indonesia	360 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=84	Brazil	360 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=86	Norway	350 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=86	Ecuador	350 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
88	Zimbabwe	330 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
89	Pakistan	300 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
90	Central African Republic	290 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
91	Kyrgyzstan	270 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
	Former French colonies average (profile)	270 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
92	Vietnam	260 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
93	Colombia	240 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
94	Panama	230 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
95	Sri Lanka	210 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
	failed states average (profile)	207.69 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=96	Cote d'Ivoire	200 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=96	Angola	200 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=98	Nigeria	190 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=98	Guinea-Bissau	190 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=100	Turkmenistan	180 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=100	Mauritania	180 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=100	Cambodia	180 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=100	Latvia	180 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=104	Ghana	170 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=104	Uruguay	170 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=106	Guatemala	160 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=106	Kenya	160 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=106	Uganda	160 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=109	Senegal	150 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=109	Argentina	150 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=109	Honduras	150 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=112	Benin	140 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=112	Haiti	140 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=112	Democratic Republic of the Congo	140 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=115	Mozambique	130 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=115	Burundi	130 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
117	Nicaragua	120 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=118	Liberia	110 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=118	Sudan	110 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=118	The Gambia	110 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=118	Oman	110 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=118	Gabon	110 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=118	Laos	110 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=124	Tanzania	100 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=124	Chad	100 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=126	Niger	90 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=126	Burma	90 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=128	Cameroon	80 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=128	Burkina Faso	80 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=128	Paraguay	80 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=131	Ethiopia	70 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=131	Guinea	70 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=131	Bolivia	70 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=131	Togo	70 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=131	Mali	70 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
136	Somalia	60 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=137	Malawi	50 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=137	Nepal	50 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=139	Madagascar	40 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
=139	Papua New Guinea	40 thousand metric tons/squ	2000
141	Bhutan	30 thousand metric tons/squ	2000

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