Smaller carbon footprint

[NANCYXRAY]

I adopted an orphan today !!! I went to a Smart Carnival with the thought I would get to test drive a Smart Car and.....I ended buying the exact car I have on order..... I am so excited.
I don't get it until Monday or tuesday tho.
I am so excited

[Smart Enuf]

Congratulations! And your carbon footprint should indeed be smaller (unless you were driving an electric car before!).

[revoltkid]

i like smart cars allot

[Dunerunner]

Congratulations NANCYXRAY!!!

[Blueballz]

"Carbon Footprint"? I don't think ALL the SUV's in the world can even compare to coal plants and the like. I just like that gocart feel, myself. And saving gas, which
is non-renewable. And saving money on gas. But, yeah,
it's the gocart for me!
EDIT: Is a "Smug Alert" nearing?

[jimvw57]

Just my opinion but the whole "carbon footprint" thing is sombody's way to justify their job. Take a look at the carbon footpront of a decaying plant. They release tons of carbon monoxide. The amount of CO released by humans is around 3% of the total CO on the planet. THey just make you aware of it so they can sell their 'Carbon Credit" crap which is one of the biggest Scams on the planet. There is no scientific formula to calculate the 'footprint' Each calculator uses a different formula.

I like the size, the fact they are different, the low purchase price, and the amount of gas savings in my wallet.

[gstreetcomic]

From one adopter of an Orphan to another way to go and congrats. You must be lovin life about now.

[windscythe]

Jimvw57 you really couldn't be more wrong... As someone who has a degree in Environmental Science I spent 4 years of my life qualitatively and quantitatively mapping out things like carbon footprints. Without going deeply into detail I'll give you a few simple examples why even if you're 3% number was right (which it's not nearly that simple) it could still spell big trouble.

Imagine you have a temperature of 98.6 degrees. Now change that by just 3% one way or another. What could happen?
Imagine a perfectly balanced see-saw. Tip the balance one way or the other by just 3%. Just 3% can have a massive impact.

Yet 3% isn't an accurate number. The real problem is that we aren't just adding 3% onto one end of the see-saw. We are dragging 3% up from the depths of the earth, (from ancient life now in the form of coal and oil and natural gas) and adding it to the total. That 3% wasn't in the equation before. It's called fossil carbon. It's not currently in the earth's system because it's been filed away in carbon sinks for a very, very long time. Now we are releasing it into the atmosphere. The plants are just taking gasses that were already actively flowing around and converting them. We are adding more to the system.

So let's imagine there are 100 units of carbon actively going around and humans release just 1 unit more each year. Because it's fossil carbon that means this year there are 101 units. Next year there are 102. Then 103. But we are ever expanding the amount we are dumping in. So the next year it’s 105. Then 107. Then 110. We aren't just taking a chunk of the pie, we are enlarging the pie.

Carbon footprints are inaccurate, yes. They can be calculated many different ways. However the concept behind trying to regulate them is sound and very important.

Edit: By the way, I don't currently have a job related to my degree, so I'm not saying this to "justify my job" ;p

[NCC1701]

Thanks windscythe! i.e., the 'decaying plant' is returning CO2 (not CO) recently sequestered from the atmosphere, where using fossil fuels adds CO2 sequestered over hundreds of millions of years ... in the blink of an eye, geologically speaking.

Since CO2 makes up such a small part of the atmosphere (about 0.04%), whatever is added is relatively larger than would be the addition of a major constituent like oxygen or nitrogen.

While someone may not like the term 'carbon footprint', or the legal mumbo jumbo associated with it, there can be NO denying the fact that your lifestyle and choices have a huge impact on the quantity of greenhouse gases you add to the atmosphere.

Unless, of course, one chooses to cling to the belief that humanity is incapable of altering the planet's climate. In that case, you can go along with the idea that 'carbon footprints' just help someone justify their job.

[jimvw57]

Hey all I can say is Enjoy that new Orphan. Guess I'll agree with Blueballz.