What is the idea of carbon footprints and the ability of one to counteract theirs though different means?

Question

I don't really understand it but find it interesting. I am an engineer so if someone is a little scientific I won't burst into tears, but my knowledge of environmental science is somewhat minimal. I work for a municipality.

Answer 1

This has nothing to do with Carbon dating:
The dicitonary definition is:
A Carbon Footprint is a measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide. an example is the amount of carbon created when you heat up your tea or drive to work.

The average persons total carbon footprint in the USA is about 19,000 kg per year.

The average for all industrial nations is about 11,000 kg per year.

The world-wide average is 4,000kg per year.

To stop combat climate change the world-wide average needs to be reduced to about 2,000kg per year.

You can calculate your Carbon Footprint and find useful tips to reduce your footprint at one of the URL's below (sources)

Answer 2

The idea is, anything one does that produces carbon-dioxide is part of their carbon footprint.

Some people may even assign points to certain carbon-dioxide producing activities, i.e. 1 point for breathing, 100 points for driving an automobile, 200 points for driving an inefficient automobile, 10 points for cooking a meal (using either methane fuel, or electricity), etc.

One may offset a carbon footprint by activities that *lower* their production of carbon-dioxide. Using public transportation or riding a bicycle (vs using their own automobile).

I have 3 trees on my property that take carbon-dioxide out of the atmosphere (and produce oxygen). This would tend to make my carbon footprint more "negative". I also drive an efficient small automobile, and sometimes use public transportation -- these activities would also lower my carbon footprint.

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Answer 3

I never heard of such a thing. But I'll hazard a guess.

Your an engineer so I'm assuming your not talking about carbon 14 dating. If you were, then any radiation source would tend to modify the observed decay rate (in either way, as per decay or creation of radioactive material in a nuclear reactor). Also vacuum can cause increased decay rates (as per a cloud chamber).

You could be speaking of the legal terminology for industrial impact statements for the EPA. If so, you might for instance bribe a conservative (the most popular means I'd guess from the deliberate pro-bribe solicitation "laws" such as deadbeat dad laws the conservatives levied that can cause criminal sentences to be imposed by civil hearings without witnesses - or the imposition of "child support" - 20% of which that goes to the court through the General Fund before it goes to the children thus ensuring the bribe is paid.) All supposition mind you. Or the practice conservatives use against "liberal businesses" (again touching on the mother of bad legistation "child support") wherein child support law keeps liberals out of business, but allows conservatives in where they can "sell "environmental polution rights" to liberal businesses from said sham businesses that don't polute, because they really don't do anything.

Well, I guess when the cat (or any other form of pussy) is on anti-depressants the mice (or conservative rats) can play...

Answer 4

Carbon Dating is just that, Carbon Dating.....

Carbon gives off a radiation at an extremely regular interval, so scientists can date a carbon life form from when it lived.....

Dating a footprint, that is difficult unless some of the animals carbon was transfered at the time and very traceable, like if the animal died there.

Footprints are very misgiving about their carbon, since you never know what crossed the tracks after or before that, that left the carbon behind.....