Sources 

Want to do some digging yourself?

As our team of scientists from Conservation International and the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) developed the actions and information that make up Team Earth, they needed to search far and wide. Check out the sources our science team uses, below.

Researching You Although we know you're not "average," the estimates we have developed are based on averages – global averages, U.S. averages, average consumption patterns, average emissions factors, and more.

Although the estimates we use may not be exactly right for each Team Earth member, as more and more Team Earth members sign up, these estimates become more representative of a cross section of our team. Many different factors may affect the accuracy of each estimate for you, but some common factors include:

• your age
• where you live
• the size of your home
• and – of course – your starting point.

Estimates were calculated by teams from Conservation International (wo took the lead in researching forest-based actions) and RMI (who led research related to energy-based actions). For all of Team Earth's actions, aggregate calculations regarding U.S. citizens are based on 2008 U.S. Census figures. Calculations based on U.S. "household" numbers are based on the 2000 Census.

Conservation International's estimate draws on global greenhouse gas emission datasets that use methodologies consistent with IPCC Good Practice Guidance. These include: R.A. Houghton, Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, U.S. Department of Energy; Hooijer, A., et al., PEAT-CO2; and World Resources Institute, Climate Analysis Indicators Tool (CAIT) Version 6.0, which draws on databases from CDIAC, IEA, UNFCCC, EIA, US EPA, and others.

CFLs

Climate Analysis Indicators Tool (CAIT) Version 6.0. (Washington, DC: World Resources Institute, 2009). 

Energy Information Administration's 2005 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS)

GHG Protocol from data taken from International Energy Agency Data Services. 2007. "CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion (2007 Edition)".

Lightbulbs for Consumers at EnergyStar.gov

Trees

Energy Information Administration's 2005 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS)

Nowak, D. A. (2002). Carbon storage and sequestration by urban trees in the USA. Environmental Pollution , 381-389.

 
Protected Acres

Food And Agriculture Organization Of The United Nations. (2009). State of the World's Forests 2009. Retrieved February 2010 from FAO Corporate Document Repository website: http://www.fao.org/docrep/011/i0350e/i0350e00.HTM

Hansen, M. C., S. V. Stehman, P. V. Potapov, T. R. Loveland, J. R. G. Townshend, R. S. DeFries, K. W. Pittman, B. Arunarwati, F. Stolle, M. K. Steininger, M. Carroll, and C. DiMiceli. (2008). Humid tropical forest clearing from 2000 to 2005 quantified by using multitemporal and multiresolution remotely sensed data. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105:9439-9444.

Ruesch, Aaron and Holly K. Gibbs. 2008. New IPCC TIer-1 Global Biomass Carbon Map for the Year 2000. Available online from the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center [http://cdiac.ornl.gov], Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. 

Unpublished results of CI's remote sensing studies, based on IPCC Good Practice guidance.

 
Driving

ANL GREET 1.8

Davis, S., Diegel, S., & Boundy, R. (2009). Transportation Energy Data Book: Edition 28. Prepared for US Department of Energy by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Retrieved February 2010 from http://cta.ornl.gov/data/index.shtml

U.S. Department of Transportation, Fedral Highway Administration, Highway Statistics 2007. Tables DL-1C and VM-1, and annual.

Home Energy

Darby, S. DEFRA, UK, 2006
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/energy/research/pdf/energyconsump-feedback.pdf

GHG Protocol data taken from International Energy Agency Data Services. 2007. "CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion (2007 Edition)".

US Energy Information Administration. (2005). Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS). Retrieved February 2010 from the Energy Information Administration website: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/recs/

US Environmental Protection Agency. (2002). E-GRID. Retrieved February 2010 from the EPA website: http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/egrid/index.html

World Resources Institute. (2009). Climate Analysis Indicators Tool (CAIT) Version 6.0. Washington, DC. Retrieved February 2010 from the World Resources Institute website: http://cait.wri.org/

 
Less Paper and Wood

Cossalter and Pye-Smith. (2003). Fast-Wood Forestry.

Food And Agriculture Organization Of The United Nations. (2005). Forest products yearbook 2000-2005.

Food And Agriculture Organization Of The United Nations. (1997). Forest products yearbook 1993-1997.

Mattoon. (1998). Paper Forests.

National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Inc. (NCASI). (2007). The greenhouse gas and carbon profile of the global forest products industry. Special Report No. 07-02. Research Triangle Park, NC: National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Inc.

Smith, B., V. Cossio. (2008). Discussion draft: Competitiveness of Forest Products at Global Markets. Food And Agriculture Organization Of The United Nations.

Winjum, J., S. Brown and B. Schlamadinger. (1998). Forest harvests and wood products: Sources and sinks of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Forest Science, Vol. 44, No. 2.

Miscellaneous

Grand Piano Guide To Steinway And Industry Standard Sizes. (2006). Compliments Of The "Original" Bluebook Of Pianos. Retrieved February 2010 from Bluebook of Pianos website: http://www.bluebookofpianos.com/sizes.html

Park, A., & Gregory, S. (2007). Is Football Too Dangerous? Retrieved February 2010 from TIME Magazine website: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1660879,00.html

San Diego Zoo. (2010). Mammals: Elephant. Retrieved February 2010 from the San Diego Zoo website: http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-elephant.html

San Diego Zoo. (2010). Mammals: Pygmy Hippopotamus. Retrieved February 2010 from the San Diego Zoo website: http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-pygmy_hippo.html

Got a question for our science team? Let us know.