U.S. Population and Climate Change Are Closely Linked, Study Says

WASHINGTON, April 27 – Population size and high per capita levels of energy use have direct influence on the speed of global climate change, making the U.S. population the world’s strongest player, according to a new report from the Center for Environment and Population (CEP).

The study, U.S. Population, Energy and Climate Change, released to coincide with Earth Day, found that while the U.S. population is only 5 percent of the world’s 6.6 billion people, Americans consume 25 percent of the world’s energy and generate five times the world average of carbon dioxide, an important greenhouse gas. “The United States has a much bigger ‘per-person’ impact on global climate change than any other nation,” the report said.

Continued growth in population, urban density and number of energy-consuming households means reducing America’s carbon footprint “will prove daunting in the coming decades,” the study said.

Author Victoria D. Markham, CEP Director, noted that climate change and population growth tend to be studied separately and considered by different groups of people. “The issues are, however, inextricably linked and must be understood and addressed at the same time,” she wrote.

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