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 >
Does the population of an area affect the carbon footprint?
Does someone living in a city center have a larger footprint than that of someone in a small town?
Usually not. City-dwellers usually have lower footprints.
Living in a city generally means that you drive less, that moving things (like deliveries) around is more efficient, and in general it mis more efficient to provide infrastructure for more people in a limited space than fewer people over a wider space. Also, in cities, people tend to live in apartments which are far more efficient (in terms of heating and cooling, for example) than stand-alone house.
BUT...footprint also correlates with wealth. The most obvious example of this is flying. So that could dwarf your location.
I think when you live in a city, yes, it is more efficient in terms of living and getting to and from places but the amount of things people in cities buy is far more than what people in less populated areas buy. For example, I live in Seattle, and when a friend from Puyallup comes to visit, I'm almost instantly reminded that I spend and discard a lot more than they do because I have the convenience to do so. It's not a great thing to do on my part, and I'm trying to change that, but it seems to me that in terms of spending money and giving money to companies that profit from fossil fuel use, that could have an impact on your footprint.
Yes because people in the city have an easier way to buy new things that they want and fly on airplanes for travel and get to do a lot of things that affect their footprint. If you live in a small town, you wouldn't be used to all of the big stores and airports. Or maybe small town people do because you would have to drive for a long time to get to an airport in a city.
i think it depends because some people in large cities have the most effect and sometimes the least