U.S. region said to be world's pollution leader

[ray245]

Just where is all that global warming pollution coming from?

The Northeast pumps out an awful lot of carbon dioxide, but the Southeast, Midwest and Southern California are also responsible for voluminous pollution that billows out each day.

The precise sources of carbon dioxide have now been mapped, with 100 times more detail than was previously available, by Vulcan project researchers at Purdue University.

The high-resolution, interactive maps combine emissions data from power plants, factories and vehicles. The maps and movies compare the relative contribution of pollution from various parts of the country on an hourly basis. One of the most striking things one sees when watching the animations is the day-night "breathing" cycle of our pollution, with a long exhale of pollution all day, followed by a sharp decline each night. Seasonal spikes – such as those when hot days prompt millions of Americans to turn up their air conditioners – are also evident.

The maps also highlight an important political reality: While states in the Northeast, upper Midwest and West have agreed to state-level compacts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the nation's pollution won't be significantly cut until the South joins in. Depending on the estimate, the U.S. is the world's biggest, or second-biggest (next to China) producer of greenhouse gas emissions; it produces 25% of the world's carbon dioxide pollution, the key ingredient in atmospheric change fueling global warming.

"Before now the only thing policy-makers could do was take a big blunt tool and bang the U.S. economy with it," said Kevin Gurney, an assistant professor of earth and atmospheric science at Purdue University and leader of the project. "Now we have more quantifiable information about what is happening in neighborhoods, on roads and in industrial areas, and track the CO2 by the hour. This offers policy-makers something akin to a scalpel instead."

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmen ... 802?kw=ist

I think that instead of laughing at china for their pollution problems, the US should look at their own backyard first, when they are a developed country while china is a developing one.

[Knife]

I think that instead of laughing at china for their pollution problems, the US should look at their own backyard first, when they are a developed country while china is a developing one.

Umm, that's the point killer. China wants to get to where the US is, with more population thus more industry/power production and more pollution.

[ray245]

I think that instead of laughing at china for their pollution problems, the US should look at their own backyard first, when they are a developed country while china is a developing one.

Umm, that's the point killer. China wants to get to where the US is, with more population thus more industry/power production and more pollution.

The difference is, the US has better resources to resolve the pollution problem as compared to china.

[Knife]

The difference is, the US has better resources to resolve the pollution problem as compared to china.

Or since china is starting from scratch, they can do a little more expensive, yet cleaner route.

[cosmicalstorm]

Actually America and Europe has simply outsourced a lot of our pollution generating industry to China and other developing countries, so it's kind of stupid to point fingers at them for being evil polluters.

[PainRack]

The difference is, the US has better resources to resolve the pollution problem as compared to china.

Actually, it makes China even more stupid for wanting to replicate the mistakes of the West in producing highly pollutive industries........... especially when said countries are now attempting to dump or reduce the effects of such pollution.


Its not as if the socio-economic aspects of pollution hasn't been known for some decades now.

[Darth Fanboy]

Just where is all that global warming pollution coming from?

The Northeast pumps out an awful lot of carbon dioxide, but the Southeast, Midwest and Southern California are also responsible for voluminous pollution that billows out each day.

So what the article is saying is that there is more pollution in the parts of the country where the population is dense? We had to do a study to confirm that?

My apologies if that seemed like unecessary commentary, but my point is that this "finding" is something that should be common knowledge. Thankfully some places, like California are taking at least some steps to reduce emissions.

[Wicked Pilot]

The difference is, the US has better resources to resolve the pollution problem as compared to china.

And maybe back in the day when the US was a world leader that might have meant something. Not anymore.

[Graeme Dice]

So what the article is saying is that there is more pollution in the parts of the country where the population is dense? We had to do a study to confirm that?

Of course it has to be studied. Without evidence, any statements you make are nothing more than guesses based on anecdotes.

[TithonusSyndrome]

So what the article is saying is that there is more pollution in the parts of the country where the population is dense? We had to do a study to confirm that?

Of course it has to be studied. Without evidence, any statements you make are nothing more than guesses based on anecdotes.

There used to be this crackpot I worked with who claimed quite loudly that all of science was a joke when the story about the hallucinogenic desert plants and Moses broke, because it was "common sense" that they were tripping balls. Never mind that there's no way for Joe Bluecollar from Bumfuck, Alberta to know that hallucinogenic plants can be found native to the Mideast or not, your gut feeling will suffice.