A ton of CO2: how much carbon dioxide do we produce?
Our daily activities always emit a certain amount of CO2. The metric ton of CO2 is used to measure it, but sometimes it’s difficult to imagine what that actually means and how it looks like.
Greenhouse gas (CO2) increases global warming and has a nagative impact on our health. However, it is invisible, so for many people its damage remains unnoticed. Although there are several greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the unit CO2 equivalent (CO2e) is most commonly used to measure the human impact on global warming.
A ton of CO2
Carbon Visuals created graphical representations of CO2 emissions that help us better imagine the scale of greenhouse gas production.
Additionally, Carbon Visuals illustrated the daily amount of CO2 produced in 2012. New York City is completely covered by a huge pile of CO2 (one sphere equals one ton), approximately 107 million tons. Just imagine how much bigger the pile must be in 2024, given that the global population is continuously growing.
CO2 emissions and real carbon footprint
As of 2021, the global population emits over 37 billion metric tons each year, with high and upper-middle income countries being the largest emitters. In Europe, we emit 5,43 billion tons of CO2 in a year. In other words, every European inhabitant emits around 7,2 tons of CO2 per year.
According to the Paris Agreement, we must limit annual emissions to 2.3 tons of CO2 per person to restrain global warming. It means that every state must reduce its carbon footprint by at least three times.
Moreover, it is important to talk about the real carbon footprint, not just national statistics. Thus, a more accurate carbon footprint would include:
- Direct greenhouse emissions of every household;
- Emissions from national production of goods and services for national demand (including energy);
- Emissions from national production associated with exports;
- Greenhouse gases produced by imported goods and services, whether they are for intermediate consumption by businesses or for final use by households.
For example, emissions per person in France according to the national inventory are around 5 tons of CO2. However, the real carbon footprint is about 11 tons per person.
Source: Tapio
