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3.2.2 National
Figure 3.4 shows maps of the emission of CO 2 due to combustion of fossil fuels, flaring,
and cement manufacture from individual nations (CO 2 FF-IN) for four selected years. Data
are based on national inventories maintained and regularly updated by the US CDIAC
(Boden et al. 2013 ), and are shown in units of Gt CO 2 per year. The maps reflect modern
political boundaries. The CDIAC estimates are widely used in the climate community
and are generally considered to be very reliable (Le Quéré et al. 2015 ), although there is
some debate about the accuracy of the estimates for China in recent years (Guan et al.
2012 ; Liu et al. 2015 ). Our maps rely on the most recent CDIAC emission estimates for
China, as well as other nations, to ensure a consistent approach for all countries.
Figure 3.5 shows national maps of per-capita release of CO 2 due to the combus-
tion of fossil fuel (pCIN). The population of individual nations is based on data
provided by the Population Division of the United Nations (UN) Department of
Economic and Social Affairs (see Methods, Fig. 3.1). Values of pCIN are presented
in units of metric tons of CO 2 per person per year, abbreviated as t CO 2 ppy.
Fig. 3.4 Atmospheric fossil fuel CO 2 emission maps, 1950–2010. Emissions of CO 2 FF-IN in units
of 10^9 metric tons of CO 2 per year (Gt CO 2 year−^1 ). Maps reflect modern political boundaries. The
progression of CO 2 FF-IN from 1950 onwards is more informative when viewed as an animation,
which can be found at: http://parisbeaconofhope.org/index_animations.htm. See Methods for fur-
ther information
3 Paris INDCs