Tracking CO2

Reported December 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- The Environmental Protection Agency estimates emissions in the United States rose almost 15 percent between 1990 and 2006, and the number will continue to rise. Carbon dioxide is mainly responsible for the increase. A new high-tech map reveals the areas in the country most responsible for the carbon dioxide problem.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most abundant greenhouse gas in our atmosphere. Its sources can be found almost everywhere -- from cars, to cows, to power plants -- but scientists are still trying to figure out which parts of the country are pumping out the most CO2.

In the past, CO2 levels have been calculated based on population, putting the Northeast at the top of the list. Now, a new map called Vulcan reveals for the first time where the top carbon dioxide producers are in the country. The answer surprised Kevin Gurney, Ph.D., a biogeochemist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.

"There are a lot more emissions in the Southeast than we previously thought, and a lot of that is because it's not necessarily associated with where people live directly, but actually where industry and activities are," Dr. Gurney told Ivanhoe.

The high-resolution map shows 100 times more detail than ever before and zooms in to show greenhouse gas sources right down to factories, power plants and even roadways. An animated version of Vulcan reveals huge amounts of greenhouse gas gets blown toward the North Atlantic region.

"We've never had a map with this much detail and accuracy that everyone can view online," Dr. Gurney said.

The map helps scientists better visualize and target the areas where CO2 emissions are the highest and help those areas reduce their negative impact on Earth. It can be downloaded for free online from the Purdue University Vulcan Project Web site.

The American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Kevin Robert Gurney, PhD, MS, MPP
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2051
(765) 494-5982
kgurney@purdue.edu

American Meteorological Society
Boston, MA 02108-3693
(617) 227-2425
http://www.ametsoc.org

Peter Weiss
American Geophysical Union
Washington, DC 20009-1277
(800) 966-2481
http://www.agu.org
pweiss@agu.org

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