As cities around the world step up to lead climate action, a new study published in AGU Advances uses NASA satellite data to offer an unprecedented look at how much CO₂ cities are really emitting and which ones are doing more with less.
Researchers used NASA satellite data to measure CO₂ emissions in 54 cities around the world. While their results closely match standard estimates, they also reveal regional differences especially in Africa, Asia and in the U.S. showing that commonly used data may over or underestimate actual emissions.
Some standout findings:
- Wealth matters: North American cities emit just 0.1 kg of CO₂ per dollar of economic output, compared to 0.5 kg in African cities.
- Cities with over 20 million people emit 1.8 tons per capita, compared to 7.7 tons in cities under 5 million.
Dan Goldberg, one of the researchers and assistant research professor at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health is available to speak about the data and dive more into the research. If you would like to schedule an interview with Dan, please reach out to Katelyn Deckelbaum, Katelyn [dot] deckelbaum
gwu [dot] edu (Katelyn[dot]deckelbaum[at]gwu[dot]edu).
-GW-