In a historic shift that may raise pressure on Beijing to act, China is poised to overtake the United States as the main cause of man-made global warming since 1990, the benchmark year for U.N.-led action.
China's cumulative greenhouse gas emissions since 1990, when governments were becoming aware of climate change, will outstrip those of the United States in 2015 or 2016, according to separate estimates by experts in Norway and the United States.
The shift, reflecting China's stellar economic growth, raises questions about historical blame for rising temperatures and more floods, desertification, heat waves and rising sea levels.
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