What are Carbon Emissions?

Carbon is a nonmetallic element which is essential to all living organisms and many nonliving compounds.  It is also the fourth most abundant in the world and can be found in things as simple as a human breath as well as something as hard and rare as a diamond!

With carbon already all around us, how do we know there is a problem? The problem is where the carbon dioxide has become concentrated.  Historically, carbon has been exchanged at a fairly constant rate throughout the ground, water, and air in what is called “The Carbon Cycle”.   Because we as humans have extracted carbon from the ground and water in such abundance to make items and power resources, much of this carbon has found its way into the atmosphere in the form of “carbon emissions.”  Carbon emissions are gases which are composed of carbon, that are released into the atmosphere due to non-essential human activities or influence.  These emissions, which are able to move freely through the air, collectively form what is similar to a “blanket” around the globe.  This “blanket” traps a lot of gases and heat close to the Earth, instead of allowing some to escape into space, and is suspected of causing many places, such as the Arctic and Antarctic, to warm up and melt. 

What are the greenhouse gas emissions in Colorado?

In Colorado, greenhouse gas emissions from human activity have grown by 35 percent from 1990 to 2005. However, per capita emission have changed very little, the increase was due to mostly Colorado’s growing population.  In 2005, Colorado emitted 118 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent gases.  As shown below, the emission profile of Colorado is mostly made up of electricity and transportation.