PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Suburban sprawl accounts for 50 percent of US household carbon footprint

2014-01-22
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
202-872-6042
American Chemical Society
Suburban sprawl accounts for 50 percent of US household carbon footprint Many U.S. cities are taking steps to grow urban centers in an attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But a challenge is the significant carbon footprint of spacious suburban living, which in many areas, may be cancelling out these efforts. The report, appearing in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology, found that about half of the country's household carbon footprint comes from people living in the suburbs.

Christopher Jones and Daniel M. Kammen point out that U.S. households, though they only comprise 4.3 percent of the global population, are responsible for about 20 percent of annual worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, which are driving climate change. In response, many governors and mayors across the country have pledged to reduce their states' and cities' emissions. But more information on the size and composition of household carbon footprints is needed to inform policies to make these reductions happen. A few studies have helped fill in some gaps, but they're mostly small in scale and not broadly applicable. Jones and Kammen set out to paint a bigger picture.

They built an analytic model using national survey data to estimate average household carbon footprints for over 30,000 zip codes and 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 U.S. states. Their technique integrates a wide range of sectors, including transportation, household energy use and consumption of food, goods and services. The researchers found a number of surprising nuances. For example, Jones and Kammen found that population-dense suburbs have significantly higher carbon footprints on average than lower density suburbs, and there is a huge range across cities. As a result, they conclude that "an entirely new approach of highly tailored, community-scale carbon management is urgently needed." They have developed communication and estimation tools for public use at http://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/maps and http://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/carboncalculator.

INFORMATION:

The authors acknowledge funding from the California Air Resources Board and the National Science Foundation.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

Follow us: Twitter Facebook

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Emerging class of therapeutics represents a coming wave for developers and manufacturers

2014-01-22
Emerging class of therapeutics represents a coming wave for developers and manufacturers After years of research, development and testing, a new class of drugs is emerging on the market with two frontrunners acting as harbingers of what's to come. The cover ...

New study examines patterns of cancer screening in Appalachian women

2014-01-22
New study examines patterns of cancer screening in Appalachian women LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 22, 2014) — A new study by University of Kentucky researchers shows that women who never or rarely screen for breast cancer are also unlikely to receive screening for cervical ...

The unexpected power of baby math

2014-01-22
The unexpected power of baby math Tel Aviv University researcher finds that adults still think about numbers like kids Children understand numbers differently than adults. For kids, one and two seem much further apart then 101 and 102, because two is ...

U-Michigan ecologists: No magic bullet for coffee rust eradication

2014-01-22
U-Michigan ecologists: No magic bullet for coffee rust eradication ANN ARBOR—Spraying fungicide to kill coffee rust disease, which has ravaged Latin American plantations since late 2012, is an approach that is "doomed to failure," according to University of Michigan ...

Health disparities among US African-American and Hispanic men cost economy more than $450 billion

2014-01-22
Health disparities among US African-American and Hispanic men cost economy more than $450 billion Greatest economic burden shouldered by African-American and Hispanic men African-American men incurred $341.8 billion in excess medical ...

UCLA researchers develop risk calculator to predict survival in heart failure patients

2014-01-22
UCLA researchers develop risk calculator to predict survival in heart failure patients A UCLA team has developed an easy-to-use "risk calculator" that helps predict heart failure patients' chances of survival for up to five ...

New CU-Boulder study shows differences in mammal responses to climate change

2014-01-22
New CU-Boulder study shows differences in mammal responses to climate change Shrews 27 times less likely to respond to climate change than moose If you were a shrew snuffling around a North American forest, you would be 27 times ...

Modest familial risks for multiple sclerosis

2014-01-22
Modest familial risks for multiple sclerosis Even though multiple sclerosis is largely caused by genetic factors, the risk of patients' relatives developing the disease is lower than previously assumed. This is the conclusion of a new population registry-based study, ...

Bright star reveals new exoplanet

2014-01-22
Bright star reveals new exoplanet By studying the star around which the planet revolves, they found that the star's rotation appears to be well-aligned with the planetary movement. The object can be well-studied because the star is relatively bright, it can ...

Drug alternatives to antibiotics may not be perfect, study shows

2014-01-22
Drug alternatives to antibiotics may not be perfect, study shows New types of drug intended for use in place of antibiotics have been given a cautious welcome by scientists. Researchers have been probing the long-term effectiveness of drugs currently ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

UMass Amherst-led team finds rapidly changing river patterns in High-mountain Asia pose a challenge for region’s energy future

New compound disrupts survival pathways in aromatase inhibitor-resistant breast cancer cells

Arabic and Czech translations, more than 4,000 new concepts boost global interoperability in latest LOINC® release

New treatment eliminates bladder cancer in 82% of patients

Finding the shadows in a fusion system faster with AI

Weekend habits linked to new sleep disorder trend: ‘Social Apnea’

FAU lands $700,000 U.S. EPA grant to monitor water quality in Lake Okeechobee

WSU team unlocks biological process underlying coho die-offs

Chungnam National University researchers develop next-gen zinc batteries: artificial polymer nanolayers improve zinc battery stability

$500 million fundraising goal surpassed by The University of Texas at San Antonio two years early

Illinois team updates state threatened, endangered plant species rankings

AASM is accepting abstracts and award entries for Sleep Medicine Disruptors 2025

Researchers re-engineer AI language model to target previously ‘undruggable’ disease proteins

Gaia’s variable stars: a new map of the stellar life cycle

AI web browser assistants raise serious privacy concerns

AI-enhanced infrared thermography for reliable detection of temperature patterns in calves

Now you see me, now you don’t: how subtle ‘sponsored content’ on social media tricks us into viewing ads

New method loads mRNA into exosomes in 10 minutes—just mix and go

Concerns about sexual function persist well beyond midlife

Can grapevines help slow the plastic waste problem?

People disregard advice when making tough decisions

Study reveals how small changes in walking technique may help treat knee osteoarthritis

Reciprocal links likely between certain groups of gut bacteria and insomnia risk

Taste and price, not calories, key drivers for online takeaway orders, survey suggests

Patients still view doctor’s white coat as symbol of professionalism and trust

The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology: Routine AI assistance may lead to loss of skills in health professionals who perform colonoscopies, study suggests

Obese surgical patients’ medication lifeline can reduce risk - study 

How to relieve arthritic knee pain without drugs or surgery

Mental health care needs urgent reform to include lifestyle interventions

Understanding readers’ imaginations could enhance mental health therapies

[Press-News.org] Suburban sprawl accounts for 50 percent of US household carbon footprint