Carbon emissions are a measure of human activity that contributes to the level of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere. These are a major driver of global warming. Major greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide.

Most of the world’s carbon emissions come from burning fossil fuels, especially oil and coal for electricity generation and transport. About 90 per cent of these are CO2 emissions.

National Geographic notes that while we think of pollutants as things like soot and plastic floating in a lake, there is an entire range of particles and gases that fall under the category of pollutants. This includes greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which have the potential to affect the planet significantly by increasing atmospheric temperatures and therefore climate change.

When it comes to carbon, the most important consideration is how much of it we are putting into the air. Amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere have been rising steadily since the industrial revolution began around 1750, although natural processes can also add and subtract carbon from the atmosphere.

Nonetheless, human additions have been increasing over time, which has resulted in a corresponding rise in the concentration of other greenhouse gases. The atmospheric CO2 record from Mauna Loa in Hawaii, known as the Keeling curve, shows that concentrations of the gas have risen by about 100 ppm since Scripps researchers began measurements there in 1958.