Tracing Who’s Responsible for Temperature Increase and Sea Level Rise

The document details findings from a study published in Climatic Change that attributes specific percentages of global warming and sea level rise to the largest carbon producers. It highlights that the 90 largest producers contributed 57% of the atmospheric carbon dioxide rise since 1880, while 50 investor-owned companies were responsible for roughly 16% of the temperature increase and 11% of sea level rise over the same period. The text argues that these companies knew of the risks as early as 1965 but chose to misinform the public.

• The 90 largest carbon producers are responsible for 57% of the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide since 1880, nearly 50% of the rise in global average temperature, and approximately 30% of global sea level rise relative to 1880 levels.
• Fifty investor-owned carbon producers, including Shell, BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Total, ConocoPhillips, and Peabody, caused roughly 16% of the global average temperature increase and around 11% of the global sea level rise from 1880 to 2010.
• Between 1980 and 2010, a period during which fossil fuel companies were aware of the warming caused by their products, the same 50 investor-owned companies contributed approximately 10% of the global average temperature increase and about 4% of the sea level rise.
• Investor-owned fossil fuel companies were aware as early as 1965 that their products released carbon dioxide and methane emissions capable of destabilizing the climate, yet they chose to block emissions limits and misinform investors and the public.

APA

Licker, R., Ekwurzel, B., Sideris, J., & Frumhoff, P. (2017). Tracing Who’s Responsible for Temperature Increase and Sea Level Rise. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/resources/tracing-whos-responsible-temperature-increase-and-sea-level-rise

Chicago

Licker, Rachel, Brenda Ekwurzel, Jean Sideris, and Peter Frumhoff. Tracing Who’s Responsible for Temperature Increase and Sea Level Rise. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2017. https://www.ucs.org/resources/tracing-whos-responsible-temperature-increase-and-sea-level-rise.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Licker |first1=Rachel |last2=Ekwurzel |first2=Brenda |last3=Sideris |first3=Jean |last4=Frumhoff |first4=Peter |title=Tracing Who’s Responsible for Temperature Increase and Sea Level Rise |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=17 August 2017 |url=https://www.ucs.org/resources/tracing-whos-responsible-temperature-increase-and-sea-level-rise |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{licker2017tracing, author = {Licker, Rachel and Ekwurzel, Brenda and Sideris, Jean and Frumhoff, Peter}, title = {{Tracing Who’s Responsible for Temperature Increase and Sea Level Rise}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2017}, month = aug, url = {https://www.ucs.org/resources/tracing-whos-responsible-temperature-increase-and-sea-level-rise}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }