How big is your footprint in relation to the atmosphere? Grab a ruler, and let’s go for a walk!
Make each step about one meter long, so walk as though you are a football referee. As we are walking we will both count each step and do some math. How much CO2 is in the atmosphere? Current estimates put it at 350 -380 parts per million. For ease of computation, we will round it up to the nearest 100, to 400 parts per million. Now let’s use that old fashioned math and reduce that down. 400 parts per million can be reduced to 4 parts per 10,000. When we have finished taking 10,000 steps, stop and turn around. You will have just walked 10,000 meters or 10 kilometers, which marathon runners know well as roughly 6 miles. At average walking speed this takes about 2 hours. (If you do not want to take the walk, get in your car, and drive 6 miles, just to see how far it is.) Once there, look back at where you started. Remembering that all the CO2 in the atmosphere is 4 parts per 10,000, take 4 steps back towards your starting point. Those four steps out of the 6 miles traveled represent the entire amount of CO2 in the earth’s atmosphere. Moving on.
Global warming alarmists determine that the carbon dioxide caused from man is defined as the amount we have today over the amount that existed before the Industrial Revolution. That definition is debatable, with some scientists estimating that man is only responsible for 15% of that amount, but for our demonstration purposes we will concede to the alarmists that all the additional CO2 came from man.
One step out of the 6 miles traveled represents the human race’s carbon footprint from the 1880′s until today. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) the entire CO2 increase for the earth in the year 2007 was 2.4 parts per million. Once again we will assume it is all man made and, furthermore, we will round up to 2.5. The 2007 world wide carbon footprint of 2.5 parts per million translates in our 6 mile walk to two and a half centimeters, or about 1 inch out of the entire 6 miles.
Now, some environmentalists suggest that the 300 million people in the United States are responsible for as much as one fifth of all CO2 released in a given year. Because it is easier to find the ¼ inch mark on our ruler, let us be generous and say that the U.S. population is responsible for one quarter of all CO2 released in the world last year. Look at the ¼ of an inch mark on your ruler – that span represents the carbon footprint of the entire United States population. Now look back over the 6 miles you walked that represents the entire atmosphere…
Next, all you need to do to find your carbon footprint (or rather an average representation of it) is divide that ¼ inch by 300,000,000.
I’m having trouble sleeping/living with all this guilt now that I’ve figured out my personal impact on our fragile environment. And I drive an SUV now, so I’m really screwing humanity over big-time.
Recent Comments