Every reduction counts: How U.S. carbon cuts could change the global climate equation - wgxa.tv

Every reduction counts: How U.S. carbon cuts could change the global climate equation | WGXA

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MACON, Ga. (WGXA) -- The United States is, by far, the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in human history according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And with its long lifespan in the atmosphere it brings up a question. Does it matter if the United States cuts in carbon emissions if other countries like China won't do the same?

The short answer is yes, any reduction to carbon emission is a good thing, but we as scientists can really only do so much to point out the problems. It's society's job as a whole to help fix it.

“I equate it to a bathtub. If the bathtub has the drain open but you kept the spigot on, it’s never going to empty. So you have to cut that spigot down,” said Howard Diamond, the Climate Science Program Manager for NOAA’s Air Resources Laboratory.

The spigot of seemingly endless emissions of the greenhouse carbon dioxide gas that's rapidly changing the Earth. Changes that scientists like Diamond at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA have been tracking for over 150 years.

"So its not a made up thing. The science is very good, it goes back over 200 years,” said Diamond.

Real science that's been solved before. Like the crisis of the hole in the ozone layer in the 80s that scientists discovered the cause and fixed the issue. Now they're doing it again.

Data that NOAA shows the top three emitters world wide are China, India, and here at home in the United States. So does it really matter if one of these countries doesn't uphold their climate agreements?

"If the US puts up 5 billion tons of CO2 per year and you take that out of the equation, that makes a pretty big dent into the 38 billion tons a year that get put out globally, “ said Diamond.

A dent that could significantly change what some climate models are showing.

"If you look at the number, the climatological average, of greater than 95 degree days in the Macon area, its about 16 days a year. But then if you project out to just 2050, that goes up to 64. And that’s a lower emission scenario. If you got to a higher emission scenario, its closer to 75 days. So extreme heat is going to get greater, it’s happening now and there’s going to be places in the equatorial region that are going to become uninhabitable,” said Diamond.

But if any reduction is good, then who's job is it really to cut emissions? Is it mine, yours, or the governments? Well all of the above.

"Citizens working with their elected representatives and policy makers have to come to the agreement of what they’re going to do to implement these things. It’s kind of like when your doctor tells you have to cut out the fat and sugar or something is going to happen. Well the doctor can only tell you that, he’s not going to come to your house and say ‘okay put away the donuts or no more bacon’ and that’s what we’re doing,” said Diamond.

So I did a test from the nature conservancy and they estimated my household to produce around 18 tons of CO2 a year. According to NOAA, the United States in 2021 emitted roughly 5 billion tons. But it all adds up from mostly transportation, electricity generation, and industrial processes.

And that extra carbon adds more heat trapping, more water content to the air which we know can exacerbate weather phenomenon like heat waves, flooding, hurricanes, and even extreme cold.

“Society has to decide if is it a problem it wants to fix. There will be costs associated with fixing it, there are also tremendous costs of not fixing it,” said Diamond.

If you are curious how much carbon you or your household could be emitting, do this test from the Nature Conservancy for an estimate.