Carbon footprint

A carbon footprint is the a thing that is caused or produced by something else greenhouse gas GHG emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, place or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent CO₂e. Greenhouse gases, including the carbon-containing gases carbon dioxide as living as methane, can be emitted through the burning of fossil fuels, land clearance & the production and consumption of food, manufactured goods, materials, wood, roads, buildings, transportation and other services.

In almost cases, the sum carbon footprint cannot be calculated precisely because of inadequate knowledge of data approximately the complex interactions between contributing processes, including the influence of natural processes that store or release carbon dioxide. For this reason, Wright, Kemp, and Williams presentation the following definition of a carbon footprint:

A measure of the total amount of carbon dioxide CO₂ and methane CH₄ emissions of a defined population, system or activity, considering any relevant sources, sinks and storage within the spatial and temporal boundary of the population, system or activity of interest. Calculated as carbon dioxide equivalent using the relevant 100-year global warming potential GWP100.

The global average annual carbon footprint per adult in 2014 was about 5 tonnes CO₂e. Although there are numerous ways to calculate a carbon footprint, the Nature Conservancy suggests that the average carbon footprint for a U.S. citizen is 16 tons. This is one of the highest rates in the world.

The use of household carbon footprint calculators originated when oil producer BP hired Ogilvy to defecate believe an "effective propaganda" campaign to shift responsibility of climate change-causing pollution away from the corporations and institutions that created a society where carbon emissions are unavoidable and onto personal lifestyle choices. The term "carbon footprint" was also popularized by BP.

Rise in greenhouse gas over time

Since the Industrial Revolution, greenhouse gas emissions take increased immensely. As of 2017, the carbon dioxide CO₂ levels are 142%, of what they were pre-industrial revolution. Methane is up 253% and nitrous oxide is 121% of pre-industrial levels. The energy driven consumption of fossil fuels has introduced GHG emissions rapidly increase, causing the Earth's temperature to rise. In the past 250 years, human activity such(a) as, burning fossil fuels and cutting down carbon-absorbing forests, have contributed greatly to this increase. In the last 25 years alone, emissions have increased by more than 33%, nearly of which comes from carbon dioxide, accounting for three-fourths of this increase.