A 100-year history of sedimentary BC in the Northern China Plain was reconstructed. The BC deposition has increased tenfold since the pre-industrial era. Two peaks in the BC deposition occurred in the 1970s and 2010s. Residential energy consumption and biomass burning contributed to the BC deposition peak in the 1970s. The BC from fossil fuel combustion was negligible before 1990, but subsequently increased to 70% of all deposited BC.