A paper published yesterday in the journal Environment and Urbanization shows that the places where population has been growing fastest are those in which carbon dioxide has been growing most slowly, and vice versa. Between 1980 and 2005, for instance, sub-Saharan Africa produced 18.5% of the world's population growth and just 2.4% of the growth in CO2. North America turned out only 4% of the extra people, but 14% of the extra emissions. Sixty-three percent of the world's population growth happened in places with very low emissions.

Even this does not capture it. The paper points out that about one sixth of the world's population is so poor that it produces no significant emissions at all. This is also the group whose growth rate is likely to be highest. Households in India earning less than 3,000 rupees (£40) a month use a fifth of the electricity per head and one seventh of the transport fuel of households earning 30,000 rupees or more. Street sleepers use almost nothing. Those wh

It is nothing but comparison.

Third world dude= maybe has a bicycle to get around with.

Typical American shmuck= Has a car possibly two. a motorcycle. An ATV. A snowmobile. Riding lawn mower for his half acre lawn. Weed whacker. Speed boat with a 500 horse engine. And he cant walk more then a mile to go to the store to get his bag of potato chips. So he fires up one of his mobile units for the trip.