About two-thirds of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are linked to household consumption! As a result, for ordinary citizens, lifestyle changes are necessary to keep our planet from warming and for it to remain hospitable for us and future generations. That means preventing sea level rise, more frequent and severe weather events and the spread of infectious diseases. Some of these lifestyle changes will be automatic once businesses comply, such as for utility companies to use more renewable power generation. However, individual actions and choices also have a huge impact. Source: Brookings Institute.
This quiz presents a simple way to look at individual impact and provides customized alternatives going forward.
Total emissions by activity is calculated based on what choice the user selects and assumptions related to activity/consumption level as written below:
Emission (kg CO2e/yr)= Choice x Assumption x Scale x Emission Factor
For example, for flights, total yearly emission is calculated by assuming that the average flight is the distance from NYC to San Francisco, person selects average of 4 flights per year, multiplied by the average emission factor per passenger mile for all seat classes (source: UK Govt Conversion Factors 2024) and a scale of 1 since the data is already yearly.
Click Here for a full list of assumptions.
An emission factor (EF) is a coefficient that describes the rate at which a given activity releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
GHG emissions are often measured in CO2e (CO2 equivalents) expressed in weight, normally kg (kilograms) or t (tonne/metric ton). This unit expresses the 100-year warming effect of a given amount of a GHG in comparison to that of CO2. In other words, for a given amount of any GHG, CO2e expresses the amount of CO2 that would warm the atmosphere as much as the same amount of the gas in question, over a 100-year time-frame from the moment of release. For example, nitrous oxide (N2O) has a "100-year" warming effect 265-298 times more than CO2.
Source: Climatiq
Various public sources are used as input for the quiz. These include mainly: UK Govt Conversion Factors 2024, Science magaine and various other academic journals.
Click Here for a full list of sources.