The World population is about 6,500,000,000
The population of the UK is about 59,000,000
So, the UK accounts for about 0.9% of the population
Supplement from 02/14/2007 09:48am:
This is a difficult question to answer because it depends what type of pollution. Pollution is the release of environmental contaminants and can take many different forms. The major forms of pollution include:
Air pollution, the release of chemicals and particulates into the atmosphere. Common examples include carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) produced by industry and motor vehicles. Ozone and smog are created as nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons react to sunlight.
Water pollution via surface runoff and leaching to groundwater.
Soil contamination which occurs when chemicals are released by spill or underground storage tank leakage. Among the most significant soil contaminants are hydrocarbons, heavy metals, herbicides, pesticides and chlorinated hydrocarbons.
Noise pollution, which encompasses roadway noise, aircraft noise, industrial noise as well as high-intensity sonar.
It may not surprise you that, as a major nationalised country, the United Kingdom are a significant producer of most of these forms of pollution. However, with the emergence of new, previously third world, industrialised nations without the history of pollution control we have, other countries are now starting to have a more significant effect.
China is now the world's second-largest producer of greenhouse gases and is home to 16 of the planet's 20 most air-polluted cities. Satellite data has recently revealed that Beijing in China is “air pollution capital of World”. India also is producing unprecedented levels of pollution. http://chineseculture.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.guardian.... copy
To take carbon dioxide (a major green house gas some claim is responsible for global warming) emissions as an example, the UK is responsible for 2.22% of the World’s emissions (560,000 tons). China is responsible for 16.49% of the pollution (4.15 million tons) and India 5.06% (1.27 million tons). The United States is another big source of carbon dioxide pollution creating 23.04% of the World’s emissions (5.79 million tons)
There is an interactive map here, where you can check the results for each country http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2006/11/07/interactive-map-of-world-co2-pollut... copy
