Every time we travel by car, charge our cell phones, or run the washing machine, among thousands of other routines, we leave behind a trail of gases that accumulate in the atmosphere and overheat the planet. These emissions accelerate climate change, as the United Nations (UN) warns in its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and if we do not neutralize them in time with the decarbonization of the economy and other measures, such as environmental taxes, a more inhospitable world awaits us just around the corner.
What Do Greenhouse Gases Have To Do With The Carbon Footprint?
The personal carbon footprint is the footprint of a single individual in his or her daily life as he or she moves around, consumes, eats, and uses resources such as energy. Each of these activities generates a gas emission. The Nature Conservancy, an environmental NGO, estimates that each inhabitant of the planet generates an average of almost four tons of CO2 per year, while in countries such as the United States this amount quadruples per person per year.
Consumer goods and services also emit greenhouse gases before, during, and after their useful life. Pollution, therefore, occurs from the procurement of raw materials, processing, production, and distribution to the use stage and its transformation into waste to be reused, recycled, or disposed of in a landfill. The carbon footprint of events, such as concerts, shows, or sports competitions, among others, is also considered due to elements such as transportation, energy consumption, waste generated, etc.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) notes that the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new record in 2019 and that current atmospheric CO2 levels are comparable to those of more than three million years ago when the earth’s thermometer was about 3 °C higher and the sea level was 10 to 20 meters higher than today. So far, the carbon footprint has not stopped growing – it has increased 11-fold since 1961 – and already accounts for 60% of man’s total impact on the environment, according to estimates by the Global Footprint Network.
Can We Contribute To The Reduction Of Greenhouse Gases?
To solve the challenge of the excess of this gas, it is essential to calculate the carbon footprint. A tape measure is needed. In principle, it is estimated in gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent, the most commonly used formula. However, different GHGs have different impacts on global warming, and CO2 stands out because it can remain in the atmosphere for decades.
Knowing the personal or organizational carbon footprint is useful for the following reasons: it can be used to identify GHG emissions and reduce them; it can be used to highlight the environmental performance of an organization in corporate communication; it can be used as an informative tool to raise awareness of the environmental cost; and, fundamentally, it is an effective tool for environmental and energy management.
The next few years will be decisive in the battle against climate change and our success will undoubtedly depend on our ability to reduce our carbon footprint. Fortunately, there are many simple tools available to estimate the carbon footprint in just a few minutes. The most prominent are Carbon Calculator APIs, such as CarbonAPI, which can be integrated into various digital platforms.
More About CarbonAPI
Without a doubt, CarbonAPI is an indispensable tool for companies that want to find ways to contribute to the fight against climate change. With the help of this API, you will be able to obtain precise information about each area of your company or business and the gas emissions they generate. In this way, you can evaluate a comprehensive plan for action to reduce the carbon footprint, and track the results of the same.
This tool is a favorite among developers for its user-friendly interface and ease of integration. It is perfectly compatible with all types of digital platforms as it can provide answers in almost all programming languages such as JSON, JavaScript, or Python, among others. What are you waiting for to make your contribution to climate change? Try CarbonAPI!