The Visualisation of the Carbon Footprint In the UK

We are living in a world where climate change is starting to have a dramatic effect on the planet. It is a very discussed subject among politicians, governments and industry in general. Also when activists such as Greta Thunberg travel the world highlighting the dangers of climate control and how it needs to be changed for our children’s future it means those in power simply can’t ignore climate change.

I live in the UK and came across an article by Utility Bidder which highlights the massive amounts of daily carbon emissions produced in six cities in the UK. For most of us it’s very difficult to understand our carbon footprint and how our daily carbon emissions can have such a devastating effect on our planet. That’s why knowing how much carbon emissions city will produce on a daily basis is vital for the future.

What is particularly good about Utility Bidders research survey is that instead of being bombarded with a load of figures that quite honestly most of us wouldn’t understand, I know I don’t, they have created a really simple, easy to understand visual.

They surveyed six major cities in the UK to compare carbon emissions to a famous landmark in each city. So let’s start with the capitol of England, London.

I’m sure it comes as no surprise to anybody that London produces the highest number of daily carbon emissions. On a normal day London produced 81,394 (2017) of carbon emissions. Now that doesn’t mean much to me, but when you explain that it would fill a building of 44 metres taller than The Shard, and 304 metres wider at the The Shard’s widest point, (see the visual below), now that is really scary. When you see it like that, in a visual form, and also learn that this is happening on a daily basis is worrying.

As I said they did a survey of six cities and only one of those cities had a famous landmark that was in fact taller than their visual carbon emissions cube and that was Brighton. What was reflected in Brighton’s case was that it is a very eco friendly, green city. Their carbon emissions cube stood at 110 metres which was 52 metres shorter than the i360 observation tower. (See visual below)

What became obvious to me when you see a visualisation of the daily carbon footprint in UK cities is how much of a crisis the carbon footprint is and the devastating effects it is having on climate change. Many of us won’t be around to see the long term effects of climate change but our children will be left to live with the problem that we as a generation have created. That’s why we all need make a small contribution with our carbon footprint and that will reduce the amount of carbon emissions for big cities and then hopefully reverse climate change and make it a better world for our children.

What are your thoughts on the climate change crisis? I would love to hear in comments below.

This is a collaborative post.