Greenhouse Gas Monitoring in New York City

Abstract:

Monitoring trends in Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) remains a key weapon in combating climate change and its adverse effects on our planet. However, despite its importance, little effort is taken to measure the real-time levels of major GHGs such as carbon dioxide and methane. Also, little research has been done about the everyday factors that can contribute to daily fluctuations in levels of these gases. Thus, taking inspiration from research papers done by multiple professors from the Bronx Community College of New York City, we looked at how weather, location, and time can affect the readings on the Picarro instrument. This instrument located in the college takes measurements of GHGs carbon dioxide and methane with high accuracy alongside weather equipment that measures other variables such as temperature, humidity, radiation, and wind. We have used all these data to correlate and find a relationship between them. We found a diurnal signal for both carbon dioxide and methane. This is the day and night change due to human activity and temperature. GHG levels also increase during the winter compared to the summer months. This can be attributed to home heating and boiler systems which are more likely to be used during the cold winter months. The boilers mostly use natural gas as fuel here in New York City. The fuel is broken down from methane (the main constituent of natural gas) down to carbon dioxide and water, which forms the bulk of all the GHG released. Methane in the city is often released from loose pipelines and such. In summer, however, most homes use air conditioning powered by electricity from the grid. These carbon dioxide releases, therefore, do not occur locally.