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 >
Differences in Carbon Footprint
I do see differences throughout the countries. This is because different countries are more or less aware of their carbon footprint and how to care for it. It shows the awareness levels throughout the Earth.
Another factor would be that different countries have different average temperatures, so they need for electric heating/cooling would be different. For example, here in Maine most people heat their houses for more months than people do in California.
Charlotte, you have a really good point. We all have different temperatures and when we heat our houses. But this also goes along with the undeveloped countries. They don’t have enough resources to help lower their CO2 emissions.
An additional factor to differences in carbon footprint would be what the people of different countries have access to. In countries such as Chad or Rwanda, many people are facing extreme poverty and don't have access to cars, airplanes, fast fashion, etc. and other things that produce significant carbon emissions, so their footprint will obviously be lower. At the same time, industrialized countries such as the US or Canada use energy sources that are not clean, mainly coal and oil which contribute to their citizen's carbon footprint. Moreover, food production facilities, particularly meat, release a significant amount of carbon emissions into the air, and over here in the US, we love a good hamburger or steak! Basically, your access to certain resources greatly factors into the differences in two people's carbon footprint.





