The biggest polluters in the world are known to be the United States of America and China. In 2007, China overtook the United States for the dubious role of world’s greatest carbon emitter. However, because the United States is so much wealthier per capita than the People’s Republic, individual US citizens could claim that they burned more fossil fuels. According to a new study, this won’t last for long. At their current pace, by 2017, the average Chinese citizen will surpass the US citizen as the world’s greatest polluter.