The great carbon divide

We are not equally to blame for rising temperatures, and recognising that is an important step in identifying possible solutionsThe climate chasm between the world's carbon-guzzling rich and the heat-vulnerable poor forms a symbolic shape when plotted on a graph. Climate-heating greenhouse gas emissions are so heavily concentrated among a rich minority that the image resembles one of those old-fashioned broad-bowled, saucer-shaped glasses beloved of the gilded age: a champagne coupe.At the top is the wide, flat, very shallow bowl of the richest 10% of humanity, whose carbon appetite - through personal consumption, investment portfolios, and share of government subsidies and infrastructure benefits - accounts for about 50% of all emissions. Continue reading...