Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1
ASLA meeting speakers’ emissions by presentation frequency. The plot excludes one outlier who participated in six presentations and may have been responsible for emitting 9.58 tCO2 from air travel.
- Figure 2
ASLA meeting institutions’ emissions by presentation frequency. I excluded two outliers from the scatterplot: one institution may have been responsible for emitting 12.47 tCO2 to participate in 67 presentations in 2011 and 2013–2019; another may have been responsible for emitting 30.48 tCO2 to participate in 66 education sessions.
- Figure 3
ASLA meeting speakers’ emissions by travel mode. I assumed that emissions related to speakers who live and practice in the city where meetings took place equaled zero.
- Figure 4
Aerial view of the National Mall, Washington, DC, illustrating the area of September Arctic sea ice loss associated with carbon dioxide emissions equal to that associated with air travel to ASLA annual meetings between 1960 and 2010, in solid gray; and between 2011 and 2019, in white.
Tables
- Table 1.
Estimations of ASLA Meeting Education Session Featured Speakers’ Travel-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions
Year Location Speakers Carbon Footprint (tCO2) Mean tCO2 per Speaker, Carbon Footprint Carbonfund, tCO2 Mean tCO2 per Speaker, Carbonfund Mean tCO2 Mean tCO2 per Speaker 2019 San Diego 299 116.75 0.39 161.79 0.54 139.31 0.46 2018 Philadelphia 395 79.86 0.21 118.89 0.29 98.96 0.25 2017 Los Angeles 378 130.69 0.35 181.43 0.48 156.06 0.41 2016 New Orleans 369 110.46 0.30 146.40 0.40 128.43 0.35 2015 Chicago 355 80.23 0.22 106.76 0.30 93.50 0.26 2014 Denver 350 97.77 0.28 133.02 0.37 115.40 0.33 2013 Boston 338 84.66 0.25 122.27 0.36 103.47 0.31 2011 San Diego 337 132.54 0.40 184.05 0.55 158.99 0.48 Total 2,821 832.96 1,154.61 994.11 Mean 353 104.12 0.30 144.33 0.41 124.26 0.36 Air Car Train Local San Diego, 2019 268 24 0 7 Philadelphia, 2018 195 15 137 47 Los Angeles, 2017 307 9 0 62 New Orleans, 2016 336 15 0 18 Chicago, 2015 305 15 0 35 Denver, 2014 315 1 0 33 Boston, 2013 210 8 79 41 San Diego, 2011 298 23 2 10 Means 279 14 27 32 City of Origin 2019, San Diego 2018, Philadelphia 2017, Los Angeles 2016, New Orleans 2015, Chicago 2014, Denver 2013, Boston 2011, San Diego Mean ASLA Members, October 2019 New York City 32 43 50 43 44 48 39 28 41 200 Boston/Cambridge 32 39 39 38 30 31 41 26 35 199 San Francisco 27 25 43 27 31 25 22 27 28 201 Los Angeles 20 28 62 12 10 16 17 23 24 169 Philadelphia 19 47 14 16 17 14 24 17 21 180 Washington, DC 8 23 21 25 25 24 23 19 21 152 Chicago 7 17 10 11 35 8 8 16 15 150 Denver 15 6 12 19 14 23 11 18 15 145 Seattle 8 17 11 8 20 13 8 8 12 296 Intercontinental 6 10 6 9 4 5 8 6 7 NA Austin 9 5 7 5 5 6 6 5 6 178 Charlottesville 1 12 4 3 2 5 5 12 6 158 San Diego 6 5 6 5 8 4 7 10 6 181 Baltimore 7 6 1 7 5 4 1 6 5 94 Minneapolis/St. Paul 2 4 3 4 7 6 6 6 5 125 Portland, OR 4 2 14 7 2 5 9 1 5 171 Atlanta 1 4 6 5 4 4 3 8 4 110 Dallas/Ft. Worth 3 6 4 2 3 6 3 5 4 201 Albuquerque 2 1 7 1 1 7 0 5 3 72 Sacramento 7 2 5 2 2 3 2 2 3 66 Toronto, Canada 6 3 1 3 0 4 3 5 3 86 Cities represented 70 76 60 75 73 76 78 68 72 — - Table 4.
International and Intercontinental ASLA Meeting Featured Speakers’ Travel-Related Emissions
Meeting Year International Travelers Intercontinental Travelers Carbon Footprint, tCO2 Carbon Footprint, Percent of Total tCO2 Carbonfund, tCO2 Carbonfund, Percent of Total tCO2 2019 16 6 13.40 11.48 19.13 11.82 2018 16 10 13.51 16.92 19.21 16.16 2017 11 6 10.50 8.03 14.90 8.21 2016 17 9 18.69 16.92 25.08 17.13 2015 6 4 7.15 8.91 10.27 9.62 2014 11 5 9.12 9.33 12.68 9.53 2013 18 8 11.63 13.74 16.50 13.49 2011 16 6 13.55 10.22 18.72 10.17 Totals 111 54 97.55 11.94 136.49 12.02 Note: Values for international travelers include intercontinental travelers.
- Table 5.
Estimations of Air Travel-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions from ASLA Meetings, 1960–2019
Year Location Attendees Attendees byAird Carbon Footprint tCO2e Carbon Footprint tCO2 w/Radiative Forcingf Carbonfund tCO2e Carbonfund tCO2 w/Radiative Forcingg Mean tCO2e Sept. Arctic Sea Ice Loss, m2h Labor Productivity Loss, PPPi 2019 San Diego 6,500b 5,826 2,272 4,297 3,146 8,494 2,679.94 8,039.81 $1,795.56 2018 Philadelphia 6,200 3,061 643 1,216 888 2,397 765.24 2,295.71 $505.06 2017 Los Angeles 6,318 5,118 1,791 3,387 2,456 6,632 2,098.21 6,294.62 $1,342.85 2016 New Orleans 5,526 5,032 1,510 2,855 2,013 5,435 1,761.19 5,283.57 $1,109.55 2015 Chicago 6,200 5,327 1,172 2,216 1,598 4,315 1,385.03 4,155.09 $858.72 2014 Denver 5,500 4,950 1,386 2,621 1,832 4,945 1,633.50 4,900.50 $1,012.77 2013 Boston 5,886 3,657 914 1,729 1,317 3,555 1,133.66 3,400.98 $691.53 2012 Phoenix 4,200 3,338 1,001 1,893 1,368 3,695 1,201.59 3,604.76 $720.95 2011 San Diego 5,576 4,931 1,972 3,730 2,712 7,322 2,366.81 7,100.43 $1,396.42 2010 Wash. DC 5,465 4,355 1,307 2,471 1,786 4,821 1,567.82 4,703.46 $893.66 2009 Chicago 5,103 4,384 965 1,824 1,315 3,551 1,139.97 3,419.91 $638.38 2008 Philadelphia 5,350 2,641 555 1,049 766 2,068 660.32 1,980.97 $369.78 2007 San Francisco 6,978 5,561 1,668 3,155 2,280 6,156 2,001.88 6,005.63 $1,081.01 2006 Minneapolis 4,364 3,478 1,043 1,973 1,426 3,850 1,251.96 3,755.89 $663.54 2005 Ft. Lauderdale 4,198 3,345 1,004 1,898 1,372 3,703 1,204.34 3,613.02 $614.21 2004 Salt Lake City 2,085 1,662 498 943 681 1,839 598.15 1,794.46 $299.08 2003 New Orleans 4,226 3,848 1,154 2,183 1,539 4,156 1,346.87 4,040.61 $646.50 2002 San Jose, CA 3,753 2,991 897 1,697 1,226 3,311 1,076.68 3,230.03 $506.04 2001 Montreal 0c 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 $0.00 2000 St. Louis 3,200 2,550 765 1,447 1,046 2,823 918.03 2,754.09 $413.11 1999 Boston 3,104 1,929 482 912 694 1,875 597.88 1,793.63 $263.07 1998 Portland 3,008 2,397 719 1,360 983 2,654 863.06 2,589.19 $371.12 1997 Atlanta 2,913 2,321 696 1,317 952 2,569 835.58 2,506.74 $350.94 1996 Los Angeles 2,817 2,282 799 1,510 1,095 2,957 935.46 2,806.38 $383.54 1995 Cleveland 2,721 2,168 651 1,230 889 2,400 780.61 2,341.83 $312.24 1994 San Antonio 2,625 2,092 628 1,187 858 2,316 753.13 2,259.38 $293.72 1993 Chicago 2,529 2,173 478 904 652 1,760 565.05 1,695.14 $214.72 1992 Washington, DC 2,434 1,939 582 1,100 795 2,147 698.16 2,094.48 $258.32 1991 Kansas City 2,338 1,863 559 1,057 764 2,062 670.68 2,012.03 $241.44 1990 San Diego 2,242 1,996 778 1,472 1,088 2,937 938.14 2,814.43 $318.97 1989 Orlando 2,333 1,859 558 1,055 762 2,058 669.30 2,007.90 $220.87 1988 Seattle 2,181 1,738 521 986 713 1,924 625.69 1,877.08 $193.97 1987 Baltimore 2,121 1,690 507 959 693 1,871 608.39 1,825.16 $182.52 1986 San Francisco 2,060 1,642 493 931 673 1,818 591.08 1,773.24 $171.41 1985 Cincinnati 2,000 1,594 478 904 653 1,764 573.77 1,721.30 $160.66 1984 Phoenix 2,300 1,833 550 1,040 751 2,029 659.83 1,979.50 $178.15 1983 Indianapolis 2,000 1,594 478 904 653 1,764 573.77 1,721.30 $149.18 1982 Honolulu 1,050 837 251 475 343 926 301.23 903.68 $75.31 1981 Washington, DC 2,300 1,833 550 1,040 751 2,029 659.83 1,979.50 $158.36 1980 Denver 1,700 1,530 428 810 566 1,528 504.90 1,514.70 $111.08 1979 New Orleans 1,800 1,639 492 930 656 1,770 590.07 1,770.21 $112.11 1978 Atlanta 1,700 1,355 406 769 555 1,500 487.70 1,463.11 $82.91 1977 Minn./St. Paul 1,615 1,287 386 730 528 1,425 463.41 1,390.24 $74.15 1976 San Diego 1,531 1,362 538 1,018 742 2,005 640.28 1,920.83 $96.04 1975 San Antonio 1,446 1,152 346 654 472 1,276 414.83 1,244.49 $58.08 1974 Bal Harbour 1,361 1,085 325 615 445 1,201 390.54 1,171.62 $50.77 1973 Mackinac Isl. 1,277 1,017 305 577 417 1,126 366.25 1,098.75 $43.95 1972 Philadelphia 1,192 588 124 234 171 461 147.12 441.36 $16.18 1971 Portland, OR 1,107 882 265 501 362 977 317.67 953.01 $34.94 1970 Williamsburg 1,023 815 244 462 334 902 293.38 880.14 $29.34 1969 St. Louis 938 747 224 424 306 827 269.09 807.27 $26.91 1968 Niagara Falls 853 680 204 386 279 753 244.80 734.39 $22.03 1967 Atlanta 769 613 184 347 251 678 220.51 661.52 $19.85 1966 Yosemite Nat’l Park 684 545 164 309 223 603 196.22 588.65 $15.70 1965 Hartford, CT 599 478 143 271 196 529 171.93 515.78 $13.75 1964 Dallas 515 410 123 233 168 454 147.64 442.91 $11.81 1963 Pittsburgh 430 343 103 194 140 379 123.36 370.08 $9.87 1962 Bal Harbour 287 229 69 130 94 253 82.34 247.01 $6.59 1961 Boulder 143 129 36 68 48 129 42.47 127.41 $3.40 1960 New York City 188 150 45 85 61 166 53.93 161.80 $4.31 Totals 38,429 72,670 52,545 141,871 45,860.24 137,580.73 $20,900.99 a Bold attendee values provided by the ASLA Library and Archives. I interpolated the other values between given, bold values.
↵b ASLA (2019a, p. 41).
↵c The ASLA Executive Committee canceled the 2001 meeting following the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon that occurred on September 11,2001.
↵d Airborne attendees multiplied by mean percentage of education session featured speakers who likely flew per meeting. Bold emission values based on the mean percentage of featured speakers’ for ASLA meetings in the same, respective city in 2011, and 2013–2019.1 based the other values on mean percentages of airborne speakers across all meeting speakers in 2011 and 2013–2019.
↵e Airborne attendees multiplied by mean emission weight by meeting location from Carbon Footprint or Carbonfund calculators, or for the mean of two carbon calculators. Bold emission values based on mean emission weights of featured speakers’for ASLA meetings in the same, respective city in 2011, and 2013–2019.1 based the other values on mean emission weights across all meeting speakers in 2011 and 2013–2019.
↵f Carbon Footprint calculator radiative forcing factor is 1.891. Values account for the potential global warming effect due to the emission of greenhouse gases from aircraft in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere.
↵g Carbonfund calculator radiative forcing factor is 2.7.
↵h Values based on mean tCO2. For every 1 tCO2 emitted into the atmosphere, 3 m2 of September Arctic sea ice loss occurred between 1953 and2OI5 (Notz & Stroeve, 2016).
↵i Values based on mean tCO2. Labor productivity loss of annual GDP in 2011 international dollars of purchasing power parity (PPP) from Chavaillaz et al. (2019), where 1 tCO2 corresponds to an annual GDP loss of $0.59.1 adjusted PPP for inflation between 1960 and 2010, and between 2012 and 2019, using usinflationcalculator.com.
