Great New Google Earth Layer Maps US Carbon Emissions
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 02.20.09
I think I've confessed it before here on TreeHugger, but I love Google
Earth. But not just for the digital travel aspect of it, with all the layers people have made for it, it really can be put to good use for serious purposes. The latest super-cool layer comes out of Purdue University and maps the US's carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. The data is from 2002, so its very slightly behind the latest data you can pull from other sources, but the presentation of it is just so great. Did I mention I really like it? Check out what it can do:
Per Capita & Total Emissions Mapped by Source
You can map either absolute carbon emissions or per capita, at a state or county level, isolate sources (aircraft, commercial, electricity production, industrial, non-road vehicles, onroad vehicles, residential); airports and power plants can also be pinpointed. Each location has a pie chart showing how these sources contribute to the total.
Maybe this map, showing per capita carbon emissions, will gain some traction, so we can stop talking about red and blue states and start talking about green, orange, and red states instead.
But when you look at total emissions by state, you can see that things aren't so good anywhere.
Check it out for yourself: Purdue University's Project Vulcan CO2 Emissions Google Earth layer
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