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The GHG footprint, or greenhouse gas footprint, refers to the amount of GHG that are emitted during the creation of products or services. It is more comprehensive than the commonly used carbon footprint, which measures only carbon dioxide, one of many greenhouse gases.

The GHG footprint differs from the ecological footprint in that the former is expressed in units of GHG warming potential (GGWP) and is generated by products or services, whereas the latter is expressed in units of land area and is generated by whole societies.

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Human activity is one of the main causes of GHGs. GHGs increase the earth's temperature and are emitted from fossil fuel usage in electricity and other byproducts of manufacturing. The major effects mainly consist of extreme climate changes. Such as, extreme precipitation and acidification and warming of oceans. Climate change has been in full swing since the start of the Industrial Revolution which was around 1820’s. Due to human's heavy reliance on fossil fuels, energy usage and constant deforestation, which increase the amount of GHG in the atmosphere, reducing the GHG footprint may be harder to achieve. That does not mean that there have not been efforts to reduce the GHG have not been put in place, such as using more energy efficient household appliances, the increase of fuel efficient cars, and the like. Changes in everyday lives such as lowering dependence on air conditioning and heating can make a huge impact on ones GHG footprint.

Definition

Common Greenhouse Gases

  Carbon Dioxide (84%)

  Methane (9%)

  Nitrous Oxide (5%)

  Fluorinated Gases (2%)

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are gases that increase the temperature of the Earth due to their absorption of infrared radiation. Although some emissions are natural, the rate of which they are being produced has increased because of humans. These gases are emitted from fossil fuel usage in electricity, in heat and transportation, as well as being emitted as byproducts of manufacturing. The most common GHGs are carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), and many fluorinated gases. A greenhouse gas footprint is the numerical quantity of these gases that a single entity emits. The calculations can be computed ranging from a single person to the entire world. A GHG footprint can be calculated on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) website. After entering data, a number with units of pounds of CO₂ will be given. The EPA use pounds of CO₂ equivalence to determine the greenhouse gas footprint.

History

Joseph Fourier

As early as the 1820’s the investigation on climate change was in full swing. Joseph Fourier believed that light from the sun can enter the atmosphere, but cannot leave nearly as easily. He sought to prove that air can absorb the infrared radiation and will be given back to the Earth’s surface. Later in 1859, John Tyndall discovered that water vapor and CO₂ trap heat waves given by the sun. In 1896, Svante Arrhenius tried to prove that it would take thousands of years for the industrial production of CO₂ to raise the Earth’s temperature 5-6°C. But this idea was met with much skepticism throughout the early 1900’s because it was oversimplified. In the mid 1900’s, it was concluded that there was a 10% increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over the 19th century, which resulted in a slight warming. It was at this time that people believed  the emissions of CO2 will increase exponentially in the future and the oceans would absorb any surplus of greenhouse gases. In 1956, Gilbert N. Plass concluded that greenhouse gas emissions will have an effect on the Earth’s temperature and argued that dismissing GHG emissions would be a mistake. Soon after, scientists from all sectors began to work together to figure out the mystery of GHG emissions and their effects. As technology advanced, it was in the 1980’s that there was proof of a rise in CO₂ levels. An ice core, captured through drilling, was clear evidence that carbon dioxide levels have risen

Svante Arrhenius

Causes

Power plant releasing smoke that contains greenhouse gas

Greenhouse gases are mostly caused by human activity. Major industrial sources of greenhouse gasses are power plants, Residential buildings, Road transportation, Energy industry processes and losses, Iron and Steel manufacturing, coal mining and Chemical and Petrochemical industries. Changes in the environment also contribute the increase in greenhouse gas emission such as, Deforestation, forest degradation & land use, Livestock, Agricultural soils and water and wastewater. China is the largest contributor of greenhouse gas making up 30% of the total emission. The United states follows China in leading gas emission making up 15% followed by the EU with 9%, then India with 7%, Russia with 5%, Japan with 4% , and other miscellaneous countries make up the remaining 30%.

Although Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is the most prevalent gas, it is not the most damaging. Carbon dioxide is essential to life because animals release it during cellular respiration and when they breathe whereas plants use it for photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide is released naturally by decomposition, ocean release and respiration. Humans contribute to carbon dioxide emissions by burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and cement production.

Methane (CH4) is largely released by coal, oil and natural gas industries. Methane also is a very strong greenhouse gas, although it is second to carbon in being the most prevalent gas, it traps more heat than carbon dioxide. Methane is a main component in natural gas. Recently industries as well as consumers have been using natural gas because they believe that it is better for the environment because it contains less carbon dioxide, but in fact it is not.

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is released by fuel combustion, most coming from coal fired power plants, agricultural and industrial activities.

Fluorinated gases include hydroflucarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3). These gases have no natural source and are solely product of human activity. The biggest cause of these sources is the substitution of Ozone depleting substances, such as refrigerants, aerosol,propellants, foam blowing agents, solvents, and fire retardants.

Rise in Greenhouse Gas Over Time

Since the Industrial Revolution, greenhouse gas emission has increased immensely. The carbon dioxide (CO2) levels are 142%, of what they were pre-industrial level,methane is 253%, and nitrous oxide is 121% of pre-industrial levels. The energy driven consumption of fossil fuels has made GHG emission rapidly increase cause the Earth's temperature to rise. In the past 250 years human activity such as burning fossil fuels and cutting down carbon-absorbing forest have contributed greatly to this increase. In the last 25 years alone emissions have increase by more than a third, carbon dioxide accounted for three-fourths of this increase.Each of these gases spend different amount of time in the atmosphere for example fluorinated gases can last for a few weeks or a few thousand years whereas nitrous oxide can last up to more than a century, with methane being somewhere in the middle lasting a little over a decade.(carbon dioxide's lifespan cannot be calculated exactly because it does not disappear like the others but moves to different parts of the earth such as being used by plants or absorbed by the ocean ) This may make problems arise because if people trying to reduce their footprint, they may be unaware of the damage done and how long it will take to reverse there is a possibility that there is still some greenhouse gas that has been in the atmosphere since the beginning of the twentieth century, when the firsts signs of an increase of these gases were just beginning.

Impacts

Greenhouse Gas footprints increase the likelihood of severe and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems. The warming caused by CO2 emissions is effectively irreversible over multi-century time scales. Risks of GHG footprints are evaluated based on the interaction of projected damages in an earth system climate change effected by choice of emission scenarios. A lot of the effects are extreme weather changes which include cold winter extremes, increase in annual mean precipitation in high latitudes and the equatorial pacific, and year round reductions in arctic sea ice. Climate change and the carbon cycle will amplify global warming. It is likely that heat waves will occur more often and last longer. Extreme precipitation events will become more intense and frequent and the ocean will continue to warm and acidify. The warming will be greatest in the southern ocean and the global mean sea level will rise. Near-surface permafrost in high northern latitudes will reduce and sea level rise will not be uniform across regions. There will be a rise in about 95% of ocean area. The sea level rise depends on the pathway of CO2 emissions not only the cumulative total. In some regions, the future sea level will be at an extreme by 2100. 70 percent of coastlines are projected to have sea level change within more or less than 20 percent of global mean. The global mean surface temperature change per trillion tonnes of carbon emitted as CO2 is likely in range of .8 to 2.5 degrees Celsius. This is known as a transient climate response to cumulative carbon emissions (TCRE). There are a lot of key risks that span over sectors and regions. This includes severe ill-health and disrupted livelihoods, breaking down of infrastructure, and risk loss of ecosystems. The disrupted livelihoods and severe ill-health includes storm surges and costal and inland flooding. The breaking down of infrastructure includes the networks and critical services. There is also a risk if loss of biodiversity, ecosystme goods, functions, and services.

Solutions

Annual Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Sector in 2000

Reduction by Gas

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions seems like a simple task, but is actually quite difficult. In order to decrease CO₂ emissions, the reliance of fossil fuels must be lowered. These fuels are producing lots of CO₂ across all forms of their usage. An alternative form of energy is the usage of renewable sources which are more clean for the environment. To save on energy, an increase of insulation, usage of fuel-efficient vehicles, ENERGY STAR appliances, as well as a reduction of electrical items plugged in when not in use, will all decrease the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere. Capturing CO₂ from power plants is also another way to reduce emissions.

Reducing methane emissions can be accomplished in several ways. Capturing CH₄ emissions from coal mines and landfills, are two ways of reducing these emissions. An alteration of manure management and livestock operations is another possible solution. Motor vehicles use fossil fuels, which produces CO2, but fossil fuels also produce CH4 as a byproduct. Thus, better technology for these vehicles to avoid leakage would be very beneficial.

Reducing nitrous oxide emissions is not a simple task either. N₂O is often given off as a byproduct in various ways. Nylon production and fossil fuel usage are two ways that N₂O is given off as a byproduct. Thus, improving technology for nylon production and the gathering of fossil fuels would greatly reduce nitrous oxide emissions. Also, many fertilizers have a nitrogenous base. A decrease in usage of these fertilizers, or changing their components, are more ways to reduce N₂O emissions.

Although fluorinated gases are not produced on a massive scale, they have the worst effect on the environment. A reduction of fluorinated gas emissions can be done in many ways. Many industries that emit these gases can capture or recycle them. These same industries can also invest in more advanced technology that will not produce these gases. A reduction of leakage within power grids and motor vehicles will also decrease the emissions of fluorinated gases. There are also many air conditioning systems that emit fluorinated, thus an update in technology would decrease these emissions.

All of these possible “solutions” will greatly reduce the greenhouse gas footprint of industries/people/businesses that put them into practice. A reduction of greenhouse gases is the only way to positively affect one's GHG footprint.

Everyday Life Changes

Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Country in 2000

There are many simple changes that can be made to the everyday lifestyle of a person that would reduce a GHG footprint. Reducing energy consumption within a household is a great solution. This means lowering one’s dependence on air conditioning and heating, using CFL light bulbs, choosing ENERGY STAR appliances, recycling, using cold water to wash clothes, and avoiding a dryer. These minor changes will have a great impact on reducing one’s GHG footprint. Another adjustment would be to use a motor vehicle that is fuel-efficient as well as reducing reliance on motor vehicles. These modes of transportation produce many GHGs, thus an adjustment to one’s usage will greatly affect a GHG footprint.

Past Assignments

GHG Footprint

The GHG footprint article already include a definition and it differentiates GHG footprint from Carbon footprint and ecological footprint

1. The stub is currently 87 words long
2. There is no table of contents
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Possible Table of Contents:

1. Lead Section
2. Definition/History
3. What is causing it?
4. Impacts
5. Solutions

What each person is working on

• Lead Section-Victoria & Amy
• Definition/History-Brian
• What is causing it?-Victoria
• Impacts- Amy
• Solutions- Brian

In order to write good and informative Wikipedia article, certain criteria should be followed to ensure it will be interesting and worth reading. Articles in the natural sciences have a lot of diversity. So, although there is a set style that Wikipedia uses for its articles, the articles themselves may differ greatly due to the amount information and amount of media the writer decides to put in it.

Contents

First, pick a broad enough topic where it is possible to do research on it. The article must have credible sources in order to be reliable. When starting to compose the article, use simple language that everyone can understand. Wikipedia is made for the masses and is not a scholarly journal; therefore, it would be smart to use words that everyone will know and not complicated words only people that specialize in the subject or have extensive knowledge on will understand. Wikipedia has a policy to prevent bias in articles, so any bias or personal opinions should not be put in the article. Also, be sure to make the article as factually sound as possible so that it does not have to be edited unnecessarily.  Sometimes edits cannot be helped because biological discoveries are always being made and information is always changing so updates and edits to the article are inevitable. When writing an article, it is important to follow the Wikipedia: Manual of Style to make it match the rest of the articles. These include the lead section, main body of the article, media, sources, and references.

Length

A Wikipedia article includes a lead section and a main section. The lead section should be a summary of the main points but should not be too long nor too short compared to the article itself. Then there is the main body which is where all the pertinent information is located. When determining the length of the article one must consider that they need to have enough factual information in order for the article to be worth reading, but making it too long may make readers bored with the article and they may move on to a different source to get clear information faster and easier.  Also, when writing the article make it flow in a way easy for the reader to follow. So, it is best to group all related topics together with one major, broad topic and then split the info into smaller more specific subsections. For topics pertaining to biology and the natural sciences most of the article length is varied because there are many different sub-branches, for instance Environmental Science article has about 1200 words whereas Ecology is about 12000.

Citation

When it comes to the citations, it is best to keep all the citations in the same style so the reader can easily find what they are looking for. Switching between styles may confuse the readers. Most works of science use the APA format so it is best to use this citation format. It will be most helpful if the cited source is credible and relevant like a scholarly journal, book or even a reliable science magazine. If the source is not reliable, there is no guarantee that the information it provides is reliable either.

Links

Sometimes, it can be helpful to provide links to other Wikipedia articles within an article. Instead of trying to elaborate on the term and risk the explanation confusing the reader about what is trying to be said, one should use links when there is a term that may not be common knowledge. The links will take the reader to a page explaining term and to help the reader understand it. When using links, one should make sure that they do not excessively use them within the article. Otherwise, it may distract the reader and discourage them from reading. Also, it is better for the links to be spread out throughout the article and not clustered in one section. Since few people are knowledgeable about natural science terminology, the proper use of links would be helpful.

Design

To pique the audience’s interest, it would be wise to include pictures, videos, interesting findings, and references so the article is not a barrage of information thrown at the reader without anything breaking it up. When using media, it is important to think whether the purpose is for explanation or for supplementation. Showing an example or specific idea can help readers get a further understanding of the information being given. For example, in the Environmental Science article, there is a section talking about erosion, surface runoff, and sediment transport. Infoboxes can also give additional information by showing something relevant to the article then explaining it. Then, under that is a picture of a site that gives a visual representation on these concepts. On the other hand, the article presents a picture of the earth, and below is the word, “environment,” which does not explain the concept well but gives the general idea. To help the reader navigate the page having a table of contents at the top of the article so the reader can go straight to the section they are looking for.

Added some more information in regards to design

The Child's War was one of the earliest attempts of the British to take control of the trading opportunities in Bengal. This is often overlooked buy British historians due to the humiliating loss of they endured. Due to a miscommunication on how and when to disperse troops, so instead of having a big group of troops coming in at once there were smaller groups going throughout the country at different times that alerted Shaista Khan and after a scuffle between Mughal and English officials canceled any prior deals between the two nations and a war ensued. Negotiations resumed between the two nations, however due to English reinforcements and an English attempt at a blockade; negotiations once again stopped and Emperor Aurangzeb stopped all supplies going to the English. The British underestimated how strong the Bengal troops were and were met with force and were defeated.
http://archive.dhakatribune.com/heritage/2014/dec/26/child%E2%80%99s-war