I was waiting to post this till after the storm, but its a visual metaphor for the amount of CO2 emitted by New York City, and given the current situation, makes an interesting juxtaposition.
Description:
In 2010 (the latest year for which we had data) New York City added 54 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (equivalent) to the atmosphere, but that number means little to most people because few of us have a sense of scale for atmospheric pollution.
Carbon Visuals and the Environmental Defense Fund wanted to make those emissions feel a bit more real – the total emissions and the rate of emission. Designed to engage the ‘person on the street’, this version is exploratory and still work in progress.
54,349,650 million tons a year = 148,903 tons a day = 6,204 tons an hour = 1.72 tons a second
At standard pressure and 59 °F a metric ton of carbon dioxide gas would fill a sphere 33 feet across (density of CO₂ = 1.87 kg/m³). If this is how New York’s emissions actually emerged we would see one of these spheres emerge every 0.58 seconds.
Emissions in 2010 were 12% less than 2005 emissions. The City of New York is on track to reduce emissions by 30% by 2017 – an ambitious target.
For a set of stills from this movie, see:http://www.flickr.com/photos/carbonquilt/sets/72157631827283027/
For more information see:
http://www.carbonvisuals.com/work/new-yorks-carbon-emissions-in-real-time
As bad as New York City is,consider that on a per-capita basis they are far from the worst CO2 emitters in the U.S. because of high population density,and public transit.*
Take a look at this Wired Science article from 2008 that shows the contrast between regional emissions versus per-capita emissions.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/04/new-high-res-ma/
*This in no way lets us off the hook for reducing our CO2 everywhere in this country though.Some areas just have more work to do.
That big pile at the end looked a bit like Omnologos’ face. Does he live in NY? No, of course not. That’s why he’s still playing those funny games.
Very good video BTW.
I chuckled a bit when I saw the big pile of yearly emissions. Then I realized we have some work to do.
And that’s just one year’s worth for one, albeit large & affluent city.
The mental visual that struck me is that we are outputting CO2 at 100x the rate of all the volcanoes on the planet. Contemplate 100 volcanoes for every one erupting now. New Zealand’s Mt Tongariro had a minor fizz this year, White Island bubbles along continuously and there seems to have been undersea activity in the Kermadecs area. Dot the little islands of NZ with 300 vents….
Then repeat for North & South America, Japan, Philippines, New Guinea, Africa, Europe, Iceland, Antarctica…….
Ireland’s emissions in 2010 were estimated at 61.64 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (Source: EPA)