1/8/2011

As an environmental engineer, I have been concerned about the environment since I got my BS (1967) and MS (1971) degrees in Civil/ Environmental Engineering and started working as a water engineer. This page combines my data analysis and environmental  interests and presents Excel charts that show global environmental trends.

I have made each chart in Excel from on-line data sources.  The workbooks are available on request. 

Please contact me if you have any questions/ suggestions, would like a copy of the workbook or  would like to use charts like these in an environmental/ data  program.

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Demographers estimate that there were 300 million humans at the time of Christ. It took until 1804 for the world population to grow to 1 billion. The UN estimates that there are nearly 6 billion now, that number is expected to increase to 9 billion by 2050.

US Energy Use By Source - 2005: US uses nine (9) sources of energy: 3 majors (petroleum, coal, natural gas); nuclear; biomass, hydroelectric, geothermal, wind and solar.  This chart shows the equivalent energy use of these sources in quadrillion BTUs for 2005, as estimated by the US Energy Information Administration.

US Oil Use (mil Barrels/day) by Sector -  2004: Petroleum (oil) is the single largest component of the US energy mix, accounting for over 40% of all energy use. This chart shows the transportation, industrial and residential - commercial use  trends from 1950 to 2004 in million barrels/day. Transportation accounts for 68% of all oil use.

Per Capita Oil Use by Country - 2004: This chart shows the per capita oil use for 25 countries in 2004. The US is the greatest oil user at 3.14 tons/year per capita. China, a large and growing country, has a per capita use of only 0.23 tons/year,  a small fraction of the US per capita use. As China's economy grows, there per capital oil use will also grow, placing a greater demand on the world's limited proved oil reserves.

Distribution of Proved Oil Reserves: Oil demand is increasing as countries expand their economies. This chart shows global proved oil reserves for 1984, 1994 and 2004 for 6 regions around world. : The middle east has the greatest share of proved oil reserves, 61.7% in 2004.

Data from BP Statistical Review of World Energy - 2005.

Trend in Crude Oil Prices ($2004) since 1861:  Oil prices have fluctuated over the years This chart shows the equivalent $-2004 per barrel and selected events, including oil discoveries and world wars. 

CO₂ Trends - CO₂ has been increasing as a result of fossil fuels. This  page presents an Excel based CO₂ trend chart and monthly cycle chart of monthly CO₂ data from  Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii.

Consolidated Atmospheric CO₂ Data  This Excel based chart   shows that the atmospheric CO₂ levels from three data sets extending back 420,0000: Vostok and Law Dome Ice Core and Mauna Loa Observatory.

CO₂ Emission Trends -  This Excel based chart shows estimated global CO₂ emissions from 1751 to 2003.  Global CO₂ emissions have increased from an estimated 3 million metric tons per year in  1751 to nearly 7,300 million metric tons per year in 2003, a 2,433 fold increase.

CO₂ Emissions By Country The Excel based dot plot below compares the population, CO₂ emissions and CO₂ emission per capita for the USA, Europe, china, India and the rest of the world (ROW) for the year 2000.

CO₂ Auto Emissions by Vehicle - EPA estimates that automobiles discharge 19.4 pounds of CO₂ for each gallon of gasoline used. That's why vehicle fuel efficiency plays plays an important part in CO₂ trends and global warming. Here's a chart of data provided by Data360.org that shows annual CO₂ emissions by vehicle type and model. 

Global Temperature Trend - This Excel based chart, using NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) data, shows the annual global temperature anomalies for the period 1880 - 2006. GISS uses the 1951-1980 period mean to establish the baseline value and calculates  individual year anomalies by subtracting the baseline value from the year's mean temperature.

Vostok , Antarctica Ice Core This Excel based  vertical panel chart shows the Vostok Antarctica paleoclimate CO2, CH4 and temperature data extending back approximately 420,0000 years in time.

Sea Level Changes - The United nations Environment Programme reports that mean sea levels have risen 10 to 25 cm over the past 100 years. This sea level increase is caused by thermal expansion of warmer water, retreat of glaciers and ice caps and a net positive contribution from the huge ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica.

The linked workbook provides sea level trend data for 11 locations along the North Atlantic. Users can select the location from a pull down list and generate a trend chart for that location.