Students from around the world calculated their class mean and standard deviations for their footprints and posted them on our world map.
Do you see differences across the globe? If so, why do you think those differences exist?
Did you use the calculator to try to reduce your footprint down to the average from a citizen of another country? What changes would you have to make to lower your footprint in this way? Are you going to try and take some of these actions in your daily life?
Student Footprints >
Science and the Environment
I learned that my carbon footprint is slightly below the average for the United States, and that the largest contributor to it is transportation. Your carbon footprint is influenced by not only transport and travel, but also by small things such as food and heating. A large contributor to co2 emissions come from taking flights, so we should all travel less and with more people to reduce our individual carbon footprints. We can also reduce our carbon footprints by thrifting for clothes, and buying fewer things.
Greenhouse gasses are unsymmetrical, which makes them able to trap infrared energy, then send it back to Earth, essentially trapping heat on Earth. global warming is important to learn about because it affects many parts of our lives, from temperatures rising and natural disasters, to food production and sea level rise.