Before you can spot the spin, you need the science. Scroll down — we'll start with the sun and build, step by step, to your carbon footprint. No jargon, no lectures.
Every bit of energy in Earth's climate begins as sunlight — a furnace 150 million kilometres away, pouring out light and heat in every direction.
It radiates in all directions at once. A tiny sliver of that energy happens to travel towards us.
Sunlight hits the planet, warms it, and reflects back out as heat. Left alone, most of that heat would simply escape into space.
A thin blanket of gases holds enough warmth to keep the planet liveable. Without it, Earth would be a frozen rock. This is the greenhouse effect — and we need it.
There are several GHGs. Tap any gas to see where it comes from and how intense it is — then how they all add up to one number.
The blanket gets thicker. Heat that used to escape now stays. The whole planet runs a low, persistent fever — and that's what we mean by climate change.
Your footprint is the CO2e — carbon dioxide equivalent — cost of everything you consume. Every flight, meal, and purchase carries one.
The systems we live inside decide most of our emissions for us. Blaming individuals for choices the system makes hard is a convenient distraction.
*Normal individuals. You can still shame a pop star with a private jet, or a politician with questionable campaign contributions.
Understanding the footprint of the world around you makes it far easier to be part of the solutions we actually need. Knowledge is leverage.