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You're a 27-year-old living in Fort Worth. You drive a Ford F-150 pickup about 30 miles to work and back. You've read a lot about the furor over global warming, and you've installed fluorescent light bulbs in your house. You also watch your thermostat closely, and you're proud that the electricity bill for your 2,500-square-foot house is $250 a month.
You probably view yourself as a fairly typical American.But your energy and transportation habits produce 33 tons a year of greenhouse gases each year, according to estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency.Though the United States constitutes 5 percent of the world's population, it's responsible for nearly a quarter of the man-made carbon emissions. More than 40 percent of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions come from home energy and individual transportation, according to the EPA."I firmly believe that we've got to reduce our carbon emissions to the atmosphere, both as individuals and as a nation," said William Schlesinger, president of the Institute of Ecosystem Studies, a private research institute in Millbrook, N.Y.But what to do? If terms like "carbon calculators" and "greenhouse gases" have you confused, you're not alone. Here are answers to some of the most common questions.What is a carbon footprint?Simply put, your carbon footprint is the total amount of carbon dioxide your day-to-day activities produce and how that contributes to accelerating global warming and climate change.By measuring your carbon footprint, you can determine what effect you're having on the climate and what changes you might need to make to reduce your footprint. Other countries are already miles ahead of us.The average American family, through everyday activities such as driving to work and cooling the home, produces nearly 20 tons of carbon dioxide a year -- by far the most in the world. By comparison, French, German and Italian families, individually, produce less than half that amount. How do I calculate my carbon footprint?Many tools are available online, and that’s part of the problem. Google "carbon calculator," and you'll get more than 2 million hits.There are, however, credible resources available to gauge the amount of carbon dioxide you and your family are responsible for emitting each year. Here are a few of the most reliable online carbon calculators:www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.htmlThis is arguably the most credible carbon calculator available online because it is produced by the Environmental Protection Agency. It’s also one of the easiest to use. www.safeclimate.net/calculatorThis calculator focuses on home-energy consumption and transportation, which account for most individual carbon emissions. You’ll need to calculate your average kilowatt hours used per month, which is listed on your monthly bill. But the effort is worth it, and the detailed results are guaranteed to be eye-opening.www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator
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