Carbon Emission Trends in the United States

Manu Kolluru, Trip Bastian, John G. Kathe

The goal of our data visualization project was to investigate the development of and changes in carbon emissions in the United States since 1990 as well as present these developments for viewers to examine and interact with in a quick and intuitive way. Considering the public issue of climate change in the past few decades, this set of data visualizations will allow viewers to see how the United States is pogressing or digressing in the pursuit of decreasing carbon emissions.

The Net Change in the United States' Carbon Emission Levels Between 1970 and 2017

Our first visualization introduces the changes in the past 50 years concerning the trends of carbon emissions in the United States. Some states have had increases in carbon emissions while others have had decreases. This visualization allows viewers to hover over each state on the map and investigate the greatest increases in the country, the greatest decreases in the country, or even the results of their home state.

Net Carbon Emissions by State from 1990 to 2017

In Millions of Metric Tons

Our second visualization expands upon the the first vizualization to allow viewers to dig deeper into the changes in carbon emissions in the United States over time, allowing viewers to inspect every state's total carbon emissions each year from 1990 to 2017 and see how they have progressed or digressed.

The Cumulative Changes of Carbon Emissions in the United States Over Time From 1990 to 2011

In Millions of Metric Tons

Finally, our third graph provides a palpable, national view of carbon emissions through the lens of how many millions of metric tons of carbon emissions were produced in different sectors. With the moving visualization, viewers will be able to see the how components of the total amount of carbon emissions compare to each other and how much the United States relies on fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal in several aspects of daily life.