Herschel Walker air comments: How much air pollution is created in Asia, US?

ATLANTA - U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker recently was captured on video at a closed campaign event explaining the global climate crisis as China sending its "bad air" to the U.S. while stealing "our good air." 

Walker, who is running against incumbent Raphael Warnock, had previously explained he thought China and India's "bad air" is making emission reduction in the U.S. futile in a one-on-one interview with FOX 5 Atlanta’s Russ Spencer. Spencer asked Walker how he’d combat inflation and high fuel prices. Walker blamed Biden administration policies.

"One of the things that people don’t realize is we’re one of the most environmentally-friendly drillers in the world, and 40% or more carbon is from these people that don’t like us that we’re buying oil and gas from. They release more carbon into the air," Walker said. "People talk about this Green New Deal all the time. We don’t control the air, let’s be honest … but we have some of the cleanest air in the world right here in the United States of America. As we put money into cleaning our air up, our good air floats over to China, to India who have bad air, they’re not cleaning theirs up and floats back over here. All we’re doing is throwing money at something we can’t fix."

Walker said the U.S. isn’t "energy independent" and should invest more into border security rather than reducing emissions.

SENATE CANDIDATE HERSCHEL WALKER 'READY' TO DEBATE RAPHEAL WARNOCK, DOESN'T COMMIT

WHO reported in 2019 that 99% of the world population was living in places that fell short of the WHO air quality guidelines levels.

Air quality in Asia vs. US

China has higher annual carbon dioxide emissions than the U.S. India’s emissions, by the same metrics, are lower than both countries.

The World Air Quality Index shows China has more "unhealthy" cities in terms of air quality than the U.S.

More Chinese cities have reported poorer overall air quality, but the United States’ emissions per capita exceed China’s.

Maricopa County, however, has reported hazardous levels of emissions in Arizona.

According to the World Health Organization, outdoor air pollution disproportionately affects low- and middle-income countries. WHO says 91% of premature deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, with South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions seeing the largest number of deaths. 

Traffic enters Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021. Residents of the Atlanta area are experiencing the worst inflation among major U.S. cities, with October prices up 7.9% from a year ago -- more than double the rate in San Francisco. P

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European and North American countries have the most comprehensive data on air quality, according to WHO. 

Does bad air ‘float’ to other countries?

The answer is complicated, but experts say the world mostly "shares" air. The source of the emissions matters less than the bottom line. 

Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide can remain in the atmosphere for different amounts of time, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The time can be a few years or a few thousand years. 

"All of these gases remain in the atmosphere long enough to become well mixed, meaning that the amount that is measured in the atmosphere is roughly the same all over the world, regardless of the source of the emissions," the EPA says.

In 2020, researchers reported carbon dioxide levels in China and the U.S. were within three to four parts per million of each other. 

While bad air may not "float," some gases "thicken the Earth's blanket" more than others. Carbon dioxide emissions have increased even post-pandemic.

How to reduce emissions

The EPA says reducing fossil fuel consumption is the most effective way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, according to EPA.

Some natural processes reduce carbon dioxide concentration, but humans are emitting more greenhouse gas than can naturally be reduced. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.