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 >
Travel & Footprint
I see many large differences around the globe, this is largely from travel amounts. In Maine, United States traveling is a very large thing, and that has increased the footprint tremendously exspecially compared to a place like India where less people drive hours away often, or travel on a plane.
I think you're right about this, and this applies to all forms of carbon pollution as well. In Saudi Arabia, for example, the carbon footprints from housing is much higher than average at 48,283kg, and while some of this is due to decadent lifestyle, the energy required to live in Saudi Arabia is simply higher than the rest of the world. Things like hot climate, lacking water supply, and cold desert nights all make it less sustainable to live in Saudi Arabia. Likewise, people in rural areas or in areas where transportation is more necessary contribute to their carbon footprint more in transportation than in other areas.
http://i2sea.stanford.edu/CODAP/static/ … egory.json