Global climate maps might miss most city traffic pollution
While satellites watch from above, they often miss the massive clouds of invisible gas churning through city streets, leaving huge gaps in our global warming ledgers.
Carbon dioxide is a ghost in our atmosphere, invisible and odorless, which makes tracking it an exercise in sophisticated guesswork. Most global climate maps rely on top-down data from satellites, but a recent comparison with granular ground-level records reveals a staggering disconnect. In 260 American cities, the high-profile Climate TRACE database underestimated vehicle emissions by an average of 70 percent. In hubs like Indianapolis and Nashville, the digital maps missed more than 90 percent of the actual exhaust produced by cars and trucks on the road.