Comments for Visualizing CO2 Emissions at http://www.ecogeek.org , comment 1 to 1 out of 1 comments http://www.ecogeek.org Sun, 19 May 2013 15:57:23 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.ecogeek.org/monitoring-pollution/3511-visualizing-co2-emissions#comment-43706 Another way to look at CO2 is to consider another form of fossil fuel pollution people sometimes litter: plastic bags. About 100,000 plastic bags weighs one tonne. So here are some CO2 equivalents by weight: -- An SUV driving at highway speed litters one plastic bag equivalent per second. -- An average car spits out 2 to 3 plastic bag equivalents per block -- An large pickup will litter over 13 million plastic bag equivalents over its lifespan All that fossil fuel litter is dumped directly into our ecosystems just like plastic bags can be. However CO2 also sticks around for hundreds of years and traps heat the whole time. How much heat? Ken Calidiera from Stanford calculated that the heat trapped by a molecule of CO2 is 100,000 times the heat given off when it was burned. If you add up all the fossil fuel heat released by the average American over a year and multiply by 100,000 you end up with the equivalent of an 8,000 gallon a minute oil geyser on fire. 24/7/365. Per American. Of course it will take decades for all that heat to be trapped...but it will be trapped and heat the planet just the same. That picture of the Hindenburg is probably pretty close to the heat each of us is unleashing all the time. CO2 is just a very dangerous thing to be releasing in the quantities we do. We would never allow it if we could see it or experience the heat front-loaded. Of course - Visual Carbon Thu, 02 Jun 2011 17:12:32 +0100