Some countries grew by burning the atmosphere. Others are paying for it.
Every flower on this page is a country.
Its color marks its continent.
The taller the stem, the richer the country: height reflects GDP per capita.
The further right a flower stands, the more CO2 it emits per person, every year.
The fuller its petals, the larger its population.
Grey flowers are the countries most vulnerable to climate change today. The rare ones with a small leaf are the “model” cases — wealthy nations that kept their emissions low.
Many countries — like the United States and China — emitted enormously over the decades, and grew rich doing it. Others — like Ethiopia and Rwanda — have emitted almost nothing, and still struggle to grow at all.
Watch how, scrolling through the years from 2000 to 2022, wealthy countries keep growing while the most vulnerable are left behind — despite having contributed the least to the problem that is hurting them.