Desolation Of Smog

The Desolation Of Smog

CO2 Emissions Per Year (Million Tons)

Year: 2017

How Much Is A Metric Ton of CO2?

The problem with talking about CO2 emissions is that it's hard to visually quantify for the average person--what does 1 ton of C02 really mean, let alone 1 Million Tons?

To put things into perspective, 1 Metric Ton of CO2 is the equivelant of 113 Gallons of gasoline! Or The equivelant amount of power to charging your smartphone 127,532 times! So if we extrapolate that to just One Million Metric Tons, that's 112,523,911 gallons of gasoline, or aproximately 212,314 cars driven for a year!

This data visualization is meant not only to show which countries produce the most CO2 emissions, but how almost every country in the world produces alarming amounts.

So how do we offset our CO2?

One Metric Ton Of C02 can be offset in many ways! Here are a few examples:

conserving 42.5 trash bags of recycleables rather than throwing them in landfils
planting 17 trees and allowing them to grow for 10 years
preserving 0.007 acres of U.S. forests from being converted into cropland for one year

These small steps can work in conjunction to solve a major crisis. Every metric Ton counts, and every individual is capable of making a difference.

The Weight Of Our Emissions

The weight of emissions is generally perceived through abstract numbers, and generalities that describe the destruction of our planet. But what does any of it really mean, and is the impact the same between everyone?

This data visualization allows the user to view the amount of CO2 emissions each country produces, from the year 1751 until 2017. Not only are you able to see the impact of each country on a global scale, this shows the overall progression of industrialization throughout the past two centuries.

Instructions:

Use the scroll bar at the bottom left-hand side of the screen to choose which year to observe. The Time Lapse button also allows you to view the progression of emissions throughout the years.

The color of each country is based on the amount of emissions emitted, with the legend noting which color represents how much CO2

The smog icon will also provide more information regarding CO2 emissions--specifically how to contextualize the measurements