In the study cited by Euronews and published in the PLOS Climate Journal, emissions were taken into account, being correlated with people's incomes and not with the modes of transport used by them, the quantity of food consumed or thrown away, or energy consumption, for example.

The study showed that American households with above-average incomes are responsible for most of the greenhouse gas emissions.

The study looked at income levels as well as emissions among 5 million people in the US between 1990 and 2019. The richest 1% of households are responsible for 15%-17% of total US emissions, and of these, between 38% and 43% are related to the investments made by the people in these households.

The super-polluters, as they were named in the study, 43,200 US households emit more than 3,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) - the universal measure of greenhouse gas emissions that reflect global warming potential corresponding to different types of emissions, n.red – every year.

The financial industry, real estate, insurance, manufacturing, mining are among the most popular industries in which super polluters invest.

At the same time, the authors of the study believe that a carbon tax based on the income of Americans, especially on the investments they make, could finance the much-needed decarbonization measures.