Google Earth MapsTrack CO2 Emissions In Detail

Google Earth and a team of U.S. researchers have created an interactive map showing U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by county and state and by sectors such as automotive, power plants, industrial, residential, and aviation. The Vulcan Project, named after the Roman god of fire, uses county-by-county emissions data from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, but project leaders said they eventually hope to make the mapping so interactive that emissions can be quantified for individual streets and buildings. “This will bring emissions information into everyone’s living room as a recognizable, accessible online experience,” said Kevin Gurney, the project leader and an assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Purdue University. Scientists from Colorado State University and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory also participated in the project.