Who Has Polluted the Planet Most? (1850–2022)

China leads today, but the US and Europe emitted first — and for far longer. Watch 1850–2022 play out as an animated data race, scored to music — no narration. ⏱ CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 0:03 The race begins (1850) 0:28 1858: Germany overtakes France 1:58 1888: United States overtakes United Kingdom for #1 5:21 1945: Russia overtakes United Kingdom 6:58 1975: China overtakes Germany 8:31 2006: China overtakes United States for #1 9:25 Final standings 2022 📊 KEY MOMENTS • 1859 — First Commercial Oil Well: Pennsylvania drilling births the US petroleum industry and oil boom. • 1882 — First Coal Power Station: Edison opens Pearl Street Station, sparking fossil-fueled grid electrification. • 1908 — Ford Model T Introduced: Affordable mass-produced cars trigger massive global gasoline consumption. • 1929 — The Great Depression: Global industrial and economic collapse causes a steep emissions dip. • 1945 — Post-WWII Industrial Boom: The Great Acceleration of global manufacturing and fossil fuel use. 🔗 DATA & METHOD • Data: Our World in Data / Global Carbon Project • Methodology & notes: [link coming soon] 🎵 MUSIC: original, royalty-free ▶ Subscribe to @statura_official — how the world stacks up. New data races drop regularly, so you don't want to miss the next one. #dataviz #datavisualization #barchartrace #statura