About this data

Source: Hoesly et al. (2024), Community Emissions Data System (CEDS), via Our World in Data

• The Community Emissions Data System estimates emissions for every country from 1750, combining historical records of fuel use, industry and farming with national inventories for recent decades. Estimates for the 18th and 19th centuries are much less certain than recent ones.
• CEDS's figures for the UK differ somewhat from the UK's own inventory (the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory, used in the 1990-onwards chart), because the methods and source data differ. The 1990-onwards chart gives the recent official figures; this one shows the long-run picture.
• Peaks: black carbon 1924, carbon monoxide 1956, sulphur dioxide 1970, nitrogen oxides 1973, ammonia 1986, volatile organic compounds 1990. The latest year is 2022.

This chart appears in Air pollution.