As global temperatures are set to rise in the coming years, and having experienced extreme weather patterns in past few years, the global community has been attempting to curb the amount of emissions released into the atmosphere. The latest report points out that there has been decrease in pollution from wealthy nations, but it is not enough to help the immediate future.

Data submitted to the United Nations and compiled by Reuters reports that emissions from more than 40 nations were down 10 percent from 1990 levels. The United States leads in the drop in emissions. Overall emissions dropped 1.3 percent in 2012 thanks to a shift to natural gas from coal. However, the progress is too slow to remedy the expected 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit rise in global temperature above pre-industrial times.

"The success story [in 2012] is the declining emissions in the United States," said Glen Peters, of the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo. "Europe is a mix with slow GDP growth offset by a shift to coal in some countries."

According to Reuters, total emission from industrialized nations dropped to 17.3 billion tonnes in 2012 from 17.5 billion in 2011 and lower than 19.2 billion in 1990. U.S. emissions dropped 3.4 percent in 2012 to 6.5 billion tonnes, the lowest since 1994. On the other hand, the European Union saw emissions dip 1.3 percent in 2012 to 4.5 billion tonnes.

Although emissions from the developed world are low over all, they fluctuate in Europe, as pointed out by Reuters. However, the greatest increase in emissions comes from developing countries, particularly China, India, and Brazil, which have burgeoning middle classes and expand at high rates, according to Foreign Policy (via the Buenos Aires Herald).

"We need to decrease the (carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere, and to do that, we need to bring emissions down dramatically, but right now global emissions are increasing," explained Gernot Wagner, an environmental economist at the Environmental Defense Fund, which advocates market-based solutions for climate change. "This is a freakishly big problem."

Since the last U.N. climate survey in 2007, developing countries surpassed their wealthier counterparts in carbon emissions and the rise overall has made controlling emissions more expensive. Developing nations do not want to pick up the burden, according to Foreign Policy, arguing that rich nations polluted for far longer.

Yet, some nations are trying to make a change. China, for example, has experienced serious air pollution, prompting the nation to change its energy policies. Other countries use energy subsidies to maintain energy prices low, but that has eaten up government budgets in regions like Africa and the Middle East. Governments now face the decision to remove the subsidies and face popular anger or continue spending into global pollution.