The Root of Global Warming

For those of you that are convinced that our climate is warming up in response to global warming, just where is all of the global warming pollution coming from? Researchers at Purdue University sought out to find the answer by looking at carbon dioxide emissions throughout the United States. Based on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, factories and vehicles they found that the Northeast is responsible for a majority of the emissions but the Southeast, Midwest and Southern California are also responsible for voluminous pollution each day. The image below of the United States shows the areas with the highest carbon dioxide emissions.

It really is a no-brainer that emissions are higher in areas whith larger populations, but perhaps one of the most striking aspects of the research proved that emissions are far greater in the Southeast than previously expected. This becomes very important because unlike the Northeast, upper Midwest, and West, the South hasn't agreed to state-level compacts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, the nation's pollution problem may not be significantly cut until the South develops one of these programs. Depending on the estimate, the U.S. is one of the top two producers of greenhouse gas emissions, and research like this may be just what we need to start cutting down on emissions. In the image below the red represents areas where carbon dioxide emissions are greater than previously estimated while the blue areas represent areas where the emissions are lower than earlier estimates.

Until Next Time,

Andrew Thut
News 19 Forecast Team