Efforts in the Global Mapping of Carbon Emissions

The Los Angeles S&I team recently visited NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to meet the Megacities Carbon Project team. The MCP is designed to measure greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in urban areas, starting with Los Angeles (LA). CLARS, a laboratory housing remote-sensing instruments built by JPL researchers, sits atop of Mount Wilson, where it samples air quality  and records the GHG measurements at different times of the day. Another instrument, Picarro, measures the gases in the air locally. A similar instrument has begun measuring air quality in Paris, and NASA hopes to further expand their network soon.

A World Bank report states that the 50 largest cities in the world by population are emitting more CO2 than all countries combined except for China and the US. In addition, according to C40 Cities, a global network of megacities aiming to reduce GHG emissions, although cities make up 2% of global landmass, they are responsible for 70% of the world’s GHG emissions. However, the technology and systems to monitor emissions at a local level do not yet exist. The Carbon Megacities Project aims to fill that gap.

The information collected is highly relevant to the academic community because measuring GHG emissions could allow researchers to identify both daily and longer-term emissions patterns in cities to better analyze increases or dips in GHG emissions. Measuring emissions over time will allow researchers to assess the effectiveness of regulatory and legal measures in lowering GHG emissions.

The UK’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) has funded a 4-year project called  Greenhouse Gas UK and Global Emissions (GAUGE) to measure UK GHG emissions and support the development of “effective emission reduction policies.” GAUGE brings UK data into existing GHG emissions research and feeds into the UK’s 2008 Climate Change Act. The Act created a “legally binding target to reduce the UK’s GHG emissions by at least 80% below base year levels by 2050…” Data collected from GAUGE will be used to meet the 2050 goals through aircraft and maritime sensors that will collect data from air samples across the UK. Data collected will be combined with results from Europe, Japan, and the US to allow for more conclusive findings global GHG emissions.

These global research efforts to map out GHG emissions are quite promising and the insight into any trends in emissions identified would be invaluable. There are many opportunities for researchers to link-up their data and emissions mapping, for stakeholders to work with researchers to use the data to assess and analyze policies impacting GHG emissions, and for the public to increase their awareness of what is in the air that they’re breathing.