This is a phrase you probably hear about regularly in the media, and maybe from your friends and family as well. But what does it really mean?
This blog post will explain your carbon footprint and what that amount of carbon means for the atmosphere. Most of us probably know by now that burning fossil fuels such as gasoline, coal and natural gas produces carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide then accumulates in the atmosphere and is absorbed into the ocean, trapping in the sun's heat and acidifying the ocean, respectively.
A person's "carbon footprint" is the amount of carbon dioxide gas produced by the activities of that person (or group of people), often in a certain amount of time. The amount of carbon dioxide is usually expressed in tons, but what does a ton of carbon dioxide look like? Since CO2 is a colorless, odorless gas, it is hard to picture.
Turns out, it looks like this:
This blog post will explain your carbon footprint and what that amount of carbon means for the atmosphere. Most of us probably know by now that burning fossil fuels such as gasoline, coal and natural gas produces carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide then accumulates in the atmosphere and is absorbed into the ocean, trapping in the sun's heat and acidifying the ocean, respectively.
A person's "carbon footprint" is the amount of carbon dioxide gas produced by the activities of that person (or group of people), often in a certain amount of time. The amount of carbon dioxide is usually expressed in tons, but what does a ton of carbon dioxide look like? Since CO2 is a colorless, odorless gas, it is hard to picture.
Turns out, it looks like this:
That's a sphere 33 feet in diameter!
Most insurance companies estimate that the average American drives 12,000 miles a year. According to this handy carbon foot print calculator, that's 6.6 tons of CO2 per year for a passenger car that averages 20 mpg and 9.4 tons for an SUV at 15 mpg. Thats a lot of CO2 for each person!
Another interesting illustration of what a "carbon footprint" looks like in real life is this short video showing New York City's carbon emissions in a very graphic way:
Most insurance companies estimate that the average American drives 12,000 miles a year. According to this handy carbon foot print calculator, that's 6.6 tons of CO2 per year for a passenger car that averages 20 mpg and 9.4 tons for an SUV at 15 mpg. Thats a lot of CO2 for each person!
Another interesting illustration of what a "carbon footprint" looks like in real life is this short video showing New York City's carbon emissions in a very graphic way:
Here's another powerful image from www.carbonvisuals.com that shows a typical cargo ship's CO2 emissions per day!
Clearly, our daily activities produce a huge quantity of carbon dioxide that is warming our planet year after year. While the changes in temperature aren't drastic, around 0.8 degrees centigrade over the past century, this could be enough to upset the delicate balance of the earth's climate. While we can't be certain of the potential effect this greenhouse warming might have on the planet in the future, do we really want to find out the hard way?
Now that we have taken a look at what a ton of CO2 is and what it is doing to our atmosphere and climate, it is time to think about some simple, realistic ways we can all cut down on our CO2 emissions. This will be the topic of the next blog post, see you soon!