China's Coal Dependence A Challenge For Climate

SHANXI, CHINA -NOVEMBER 25: (CHINA, HONG KONG, MACAU, TAIWAN OUT) Chinese mine workers sort coal for quality at a mine on November 25, 2015 in Shanxi, China. A history of heavy dependence on burning coal for energy has made China the source of nearly a third of the world's total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the toxic pollutants widely cited by scientists and environmentalists as the primary cause of global warming. China's government has publicly set 2030 as a deadline to reach the country's emissions peak, and data suggest the country's coal consumption is already in decline. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)