As the get underway today in London, researchers at the in Boulder have been looking back to the last games. The effort to clear the skies in Beijing was also a perfect experiment for climate scientists.
The concern four years ago was that smog would sicken elite marathoners and cyclists, and tar Beijing鈥檚 coming out party. So the Chinese government told drivers they could only be on the road every other day.
NCAR scientists, including atmospheric chemist , wondered just how much of a dent that made to global greenhouse gas emissions.
鈥淚t was a rare opportunity to study transportation in an actual urban setting, and how much CO2 was reduced,鈥� says Worden.
Worden used satellite measurements and computer models to calculate that the of carbon dioxide per day. That鈥檚 about was a quarter of one percent of what鈥檚 needed to keep the planet from warming to dangerous levels. While that may not sound like a lot, it鈥檚 also the result of action in just one city.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 know what to expect,鈥� says Worden, 鈥渟o we were a little surprised it was that significant.鈥�
The result suggests that aggressive steps to limit car emissions in many more cities would play a large part in preventing climate change.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e revising a current transportation plan for a city,鈥� says Worden, 鈥渢his gives you further incentive, while you鈥檙e trying to solve the issues of congestion and air quality, that this gives you another benefit.鈥�
The biggest worry for the Olympic hosts in London this year is also in the sky, but unlike Beijing, there鈥檚 not much the British can do about rain.
