The Carbon Quilt (Prototype)
- Emissions Explorer
- Enter a mass of Carbon
Here's a selection of interesting carbon dioxide emissions to explore visually. Choose from the list.
Here you will find some pre-selected carbon dioxide emissions to explore visually. For many of the emissions on the list you can change parameters to suit your purpose - for instance by entering the distance of a journey by the form of transport you are interested in.
Use this to visualise any quantity of carbon dioxide. Enter the amount and select the units from a drop-down list.
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Area of Patch
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Cube of dimension
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Sphere of diameter
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Facts & Figures
Clicking here will create a URL (web address) that points directly to the current quantity of carbon dioxide. You can copy the URL, place it on your own web pages, or send it to others by e-mail.
The patch is a way of representing the quantity of carbon dioxide.
(Area of the patch) x (depth of quilt) gives the total volume of carbon dioxide. More interestingly though, the area of the patch reveals what proportion of global emissions the quantity represents. (The dimensions given are for a flat patch - not one wrapped on a sphere.)
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Why doesn’t the size of the patch change when I change the timescale?
This happens when you select a rate of emission rather than a fixed amount (e.g. 1 tonne per day rather than 1 tonne)
As a proportion of the whole, the amount doesn’t change, so nor does the size of the patch. 1 tonne per day is the same as 365 tonnes per year, but the total emissions over a year will also be 365 times as large.
Note that although the area of the patches is the same, the one-year patch will be 365 times thicker than the one-day patch.
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Why does the size of the patch change when I change the timescale?
This happens when you select or enter a fixed amount rather than a rate of emission (e.g. 1 tonne rather than 1 tonne per day)
The size of the patch shows the amount you entered as a proportion of the total carbon dioxide in the layer. In an annual layer there is a lot more carbon dioxide than in a one-day layer. 1 tonne is a larger proportion of the total emissions from one day than the total emissions from one year, so the ‘one-day patch will be much larger than the ‘one-year’ patch.
Note that for a fixed amount, the total volume of each patch (area x depth) will be the same, whatever the timescale.
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Why does the opacity of the patch change when I change the timescale?
The opacity of the patch indicates its thickness. One day’s emissions, spread in a layer over the whole world would be 87 micrometers thick. One year’s emissions would be 3.1 cm thick – 365 times thicker than the layer from a single day. Carbon Quilt indicates the difference by making a one-year patch more opaque than a one-day patch.
How big would a sphere have to be to contain the quantity of carbon dioxide you selected or entered?
How big would a cube have to be to contain the quantity of carbon dioxide you selected or entered?
The carbon quilt is the layer of carbon dioxide made up of the whole world's emissions. In 2006, we emitted enough carbon dioxide to form a layer 31 mm deep, so the depth of the quilt over a timescale of a year is 31 mm. The emissions for a day make a layer one 365th as deep.
Patches reveal particular contributions to the whole world's emissions. Their areas vary, but their depth is always the same as the whole layer - the quilt depth.
This tab has a range of ways of expressing the quantity you entered or selected. Each is useful in various ways and appropriate in various different contexts. Some of these ways of thinking about the quantity could be visualised (and will be on this site in the near future) and some are purely numerical.
The patch shows the amount you entered as a proportion of the total carbon dioxide in a layer that covers the whole planet. One year's emissions is more than one day's emissions - it forms a thicker layer.
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Why doesn’t the size of the patch change when I change the timescale?
This happens when you select a rate of emission rather than a fixed amount (e.g. 1 tonne per day rather than 1 tonne)
As a proportion of the whole, the amount doesn’t change, so nor does the size of the patch. 1 tonne per day is the same as 365 tonnes per year, but the total emissions over a year will also be 365 times as large.
Note that although the area of the patches is the same, the one-year patch will be 365 times thicker than the one-day patch.
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Why does the size of the patch change when I change the timescale?
This happens when you select or enter a fixed amount rather than a rate of emission (e.g. 1 tonne rather than 1 tonne per day)
The size of the patch shows the amount you entered as a proportion of the total carbon dioxide in the layer. In an annual layer there is a lot more carbon dioxide than in a one-day layer. 1 tonne is a larger proportion of the total emissions from one day than the total emissions from one year, so the ‘one-day patch will be much larger than the ‘one-year’ patch.
Note that for a fixed amount, the total volume of each patch (area x depth) will be the same, whatever the timescale.
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Why does the opacity of the patch change when I change the timescale?
The opacity of the patch indicates its thickness. One day’s emissions, spread in a layer over the whole world would be 87 micrometers thick. One year’s emissions would be 3.1 cm thick – 365 times thicker than the layer from a single day. Carbon Quilt indicates the difference by making a one-year patch more opaque than a one-day patch.
