Flickr: woodleywonderworks

Although global warming is a worldwide problem, it now might be possible to localize it by showing where exactly excessive emissions are coming from. A project led by researchers from Purdue University uses a Google Earth map to show hourly carbon dioxide emissions across the United States.

Using the fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions data of 2002, the researchers were able to pinpoint emission sources as specific as individual factories, power plants, and roadways.

The Vulcan Project, so-called after the Roman god of fire, quantified emissions data and created a series of user-friendly maps showing the researchers’ findings. The maps show a concentration of emissions along the east coast, while the west coast remains relatively clean except for a few areas in southern California. Because the data used reflects hourly changes, the emission levels shown on the map wax and wane based on the time of day.

The project seeks to reinvigorate the cause against global warming by showing that it is a local, as well as global, problem. While the scope of the problem is large, the Vulcan Project pin points exactly when and where detrimental carbon dioxide emissions are happening. By making this information accessible to the general public, people can see exactly how their counties are impacting global warming and compare them to other counties.

“This will bring emissions information into everyone’s living room as a recognizable, accessible online experience…What was once the realm of scientists will now be provided directly to the public” Kevin Gurney, who leads the project, said.

The U.S. has the second highest fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions rate, behind only China, according to the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC). Russia, India, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada and South Korea round out the list of the ten biggest emitters, as of 2006.

The Vulcan Project is currently being expanded to examine data from 1985 to the present, as well as to analyze carbon dioxide emissions from Canada and Mexico. The CDIAC ranks Mexico as the twelfth worst emitter of carbon dioxide.

By Elizabeth Wolfe