This Map Shows the Biggest Climate Polluters In Your Area

Have you ever wondered how much your local airport contributes to climate change compared to that power plant down the street? Or how your city or country compares to other areas across the country or around the world? Now you can see all those things and more on the Climate Trace interactive map.

Climate Trace is an environmental tech nonprofit that created the map using satellite data to map out nearly 80,000 individual sources of climate pollution. The coalition that tracks greenhouse gas emissions with the hope of making meaningful climate action. Their emissions data inventory is the first to be made from independent observation; the organization harnessed images from more than 300 satellites, over 11,000 remote sensors, and in collaboration with 100 organizations and datasets from all over the world to compile their data for tracking green house gas emissions. Right now, all their data is from 2021. Their data collection is always growing and updating to improve the models and maintain accuracy.

The map allows you to filter by continent and country to only show the selected regions in the map. To find your area’s biggest polluter, simply scroll to the area in your map and zoom in. By default, the bottom panels will always show you your selection in order from the largest climate polluter, going from left to right. The climate pollution is measured in metric tons (MT), the standard measurement for climate pollution.

While you can’t see emissions from individuals or things like cars, you can see emissions for sectors like transportation, aviation, and buildings. You can also filter the results to show and compare different sectors, like agriculture versus power plants, and see how they compare to each other.

If you are concerned about a climate polluter in your area, contact your local city, county, or state environmental or health agency. If they can’t help you, you can always contact the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Their regional office emergency response Staff should be able to help you in determining how any environmental or health risks are being addressed. Just call your region’s number based on your location and let them know about your concerns.