An Exploration into the Relationship Between Income and Carbon Footprint

Abstract

The problem of global climate change and carbon footprints has become increasingly important in recent years. A person’s carbon footprint is the measure of the amount of carbon compounds that an identified individual emits into the atmosphere. It is measured in metric tons of CO2 per year. Numerous factors are taken into account when calculating a person’s carbon footprint. Some of which include home size, size of family, travel, meat consumption, and spending [1]. I hypothesized that a person’s income will positively correlate with their carbon footprint. I came to this hypothesis because generally, when an individual has a higher income, they tend to spend more, have bigger homes, and they travel more. These are all leading benefactors to carbon footprints. To prove my hypothesis, I will be giving out a survey amongst adults in my community to get an understanding of their habits and their carbon footprints. Climate change is the leading environmental disaster that may lead to the destruction of our planet. Things such as rising sea levels, weather changes, and melting ice caps are already problems that we can see today as a result of climate change. This experiment can be very beneficial to the global issue of climate change as it helps us understand which areas contribute more to global climate change based on the general income of the area’s population. This can help scientists and governments get a better understanding of where to focus their efforts on climate relief.