Measuring Carbon Footprints in the Central Valley

Read the results for a survey experiment on carbon footprints.

California’s Central Valley is home to the largest and most productive agricultural land in the world. Its centered location makes it a hub for 6.5 million people across a wide variety of cities. Stockton, a city in the heart of the Central Valley, has a population of 300 million people and is bustling with people, cars, and productive work. Lincoln Village, a popular place for the youth of Stockton to explore, is the main target area for surveying the sample of carbon footprints shown above.

Survey/Experiment Design

Using Google Forms, a three-question survey was created that includes the following questions:

• What is your total footprint? (tons)

• How many trees does it take to offset your annual footprint?

• What actions do you plan to take to reduce your carbon footprint? (Optional)

At the top of the survey was a link to a third-party website to calculate the footprint of the recipient. The survey does not specify whether a family footprint is being calculated, but all recipients had inferred that their carbon footprint was measured simply for themselves.

Here is the survey.

Data and Outliers

With a relatively small sample size of roughly 30 students in the Lincoln Village, the average amount of carbon dioxide released per capita was 15.38 tons. The average United States citizen has a carbon footprint of 24.83 tons, making the students of Lincoln Village significantly lower than the national average by about 61.44%. Furthermore, the amount of trees needed to offset the average carbon footprint per capita is 221 trees for Lincoln Village students. On the other hand, the amount of trees needed to offset the average carbon footprint for the average United States citizen is 358 trees, sharing a similar 61% increase from the student sample.

The highest carbon footprint for a student in Lincoln Village is 29.47 tons with 421 trees needed to offset their carbon footprint. However, this student sample is an outlier in the overall data trend depicted in the graph above. Most students in Lincoln Village fall in a carbon footprint range between 8-20 tons and require about 150 to 300 trees to offset their footprint.

In terms of preferences, over 55% of students did not answer an optional question proposed at the end of the survey which questions if any actions will be taken to reduce a given student’s carbon footprint. Despite the optionality of the question, 27.6% of students expressed a need to decrease their carbon footprint by improving their transportation choices. Lastly, 17.2% of students described a solution that derives from improving efficiency in housing appliances, food diets, and other methods.

Analysis and Conclusions

Students in Lincoln Village have carbon footprints that are less than the national average for United States citizens. The age range surveyed included 16-18 year olds, with some students containing better awareness of environmental issues than others. A general assumption can be made that students tend to have lower carbon footprints than adults due to a lower amount of driving, consumption, and travel. Income range may also be a factor that makes the carbon footprints of Lincoln Village students slightly higher than other areas with more recorded poverty.

Moreover, students in Lincoln Village collectively share a higher concern for lowering their footprint as the optionally proposed question yielded slightly lower than a majority of answered solutions. Lincoln Village students also have a good awareness of how their carbon footprint can be lowered as all students that responded to the optional question included solutions that can be effective if implemented. More specifically, the highest contributor to carbon dioxide emissions are from transportation methods in which 61.1% of students that proposed solutions included words relating to transportation in their response.

Errors and Biases

The survey contains limitations such as relying on a third-party formula for calculating carbon footprints and tree offset values. The validity of the separate survey may be skewed, incorrect in some regards, and must be refined for more recent data released. In addition, the optional question proposed at the end of the survey has bias for implying that the recipient desires to reduce their carbon footprint. The optionality of the last question in the survey was best used to determine the level of concern by students and awareness of the issue. However, if the question had been mandatory, the results would have shown a different level of knowledge and awareness as higher confident individuals had answered the optional question.

The purpose of the survey was to determine trends of Lincoln Village students’ carbon footprint in comparison to the national average in the United States. In addition, the survey was designed to make general assumptions from the data collected. For a higher level of accuracy, a large sample size may have been used to reinforce the conclusions made.

History-Shattering Records of Carbon Exploitation

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Shown across the internet and embedded into new textbooks, Earth has experienced the highest level of carbon dioxide in parts per million since 800,000 years ago. As the trend continues, carbon dioxide emissions are hitting record levels every year. Countries are beginning to implement regulations, fines, and incentives to their citizens to reduce carbon emissions. In 2018, the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was at 415 ppm, a record high since the last highest concentration that was seen 300,000 years ago. Today, the amount of carbon dioxide is leveled at about 424 ppm.

So What?

A saying goes, “too much of anything is bad” and this applies to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. An absolute zero amount of carbon dioxide or any greenhouse gas would also be detrimental to Earth in controlling temperatures from becoming extremely low. However, an extremely high level of carbon dioxide such as 424 ppm raises temperatures to higher levels.

Economic, social, cultural, and environmental factors are impacted when carbon dioxide emissions reach a high rate. Marine organisms become at risk of losing their shells, fisheries collapse, and governments are forced to implement regulations that may make the economic market more unstable. Together, carbon dioxide emissions have a large, global impact on humanity and Earth as a whole.

Large Solutions for Large Problems

People are often taken back by the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the trends that follow from the current emission rates. Nevertheless, there are numerous ways you and everyone around you can help mitigate the issue. Simply using less heat/cooling systems is a beneficial and cheaper way to reduce carbon emissions. In addition, a more costly, yet effective manner to decrease emissions is by switching to solar alternatives for energy. The following below is a list for ways to reduce your carbon footprint:

• Reduce running the heater/air conditioning in your home.

• Install shower heads that consume less water.

• Create passive solar solutions in your home.

  • Plant more trees, shrubs, and shade-providing plants.

  • Install windows that make best use of sunlight.

• Install solar panels on your house.

• Carpool or take public transportation for work.

• Avoid unnecessary travels in your vehicle.

• Purchase an electric or hybrid vehicle.

• Advise others about the harms of carbon emissions.

• Use lights that are energy efficient and conserve energy.

  • Turn off lights that are not being used.

  • Unplug chargers and other chords when not used.

• Join a carbon-neutral interest group or organization.

• Donate to organizations that are striving for carbon neutrality.

• Lobby government officials to regulate carbon emissions.

• Vote for officials that have carbon neutrality on their agenda.

• Support businesses that use eco-friendly procedures.

• Buy products from companies that are trying to reduce carbon emissions.

Summary

Carbon dioxide levels have met record high levels since 800,000 years ago. As the public is becoming more aware of this situation, people are searching for methods to reduce carbon dioxide with their everyday practices ranging from lowering air conditioning to going electric.

Top 5 Largest Factors for Carbon Emissions

Inform yourself and others of the largest carbon dioxide contributors.

Learning the impacts for carbon dioxide are important, but knowing the causes are just as essential for mitigating the issue. Below are the top 5 most contributing factors for carbon emissions across the world.

Transportation Methods

The largest contributor by a plurality is the various transportation methods and their usage of fossil fuels to emit carbon dioxide. All forms of transportation including vehicles, planes, and trains take part in emitting the highest amount of carbon dioxide. However, as regulations and mandates for transportation emissions begin to rise, the amount of carbon dioxide released may become lowered in the near future.

Production of Electricity

The second highest factor for carbon dioxide emissions in the world is the production of electricity with fossil fuels in homes and businesses. However, energy tends to be a lower factor in general due an increase in renewable resources and nuclear power for energy generation. Roughly 59% of carbon dioxide emitted in the form of coal combustion accounts for emissions in the electricity generation sector. This makes coal combustion for electricity a contributor by roughly 15% of all carbon dioxide emissions.

Industrial Uses

Generally, industrial uses such as chemical reactions for product generation and energy usage emit a significant amount of carbon dioxide. However, the industrial uses of carbon dioxide do not include electricity generation, making it an even larger contributor if taken into account. The difference between transportation, electricity generation, and industrial usage in terms of carbon dioxide emissions is similar, with a few percentage differences for each sector.

Residential and Commercial Uses

Utilizing fossil fuels for heat and lighting in housing is a large contributor to carbon dioxide emissions. Similar to industrial uses, the emissions for residential and commercial sectors are not inclusive of electricity generation. As another sector that is targeted by regulation, housing regulations and decisions by homeowners are turning towards more eco-friendly methods for controlling temperature. Solar panels, passive solar (trees and green buildings), and reducing air conditioning usage are ways that the residential sector limits carbon emissions.

Forestry Practices

Lastly, a portion of carbon emissions can be seen through cutting trees for industrial practices, paper production, and other means. Trees naturally sequester carbon dioxide and offset the amount of carbon dioxide that is emitted into the atmosphere. Roughly 10% of all carbon dioxide emissions are offset by trees. However, deforestation through destructive methods of cutting trees such as clear-cutting and slash-and-burn techniques can release large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at once.

Summary

The largest contributors to carbon dioxide emissions include transportation methods, electricity production, industrial uses, residential and commercial uses, and destructive forestry practices. Knowing the effects of carbon dioxide emissions is important, but understanding the largest contributors are significant as well to ensure change is made in the correct sectors.