From the "Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions by Fuel Type" table I chose the correlating years from 1959 to 1968 and from 1997 to 2006 for petroleum emission in order to compare the two sets of data.
Data Collection:
Data Evaluation:
From the graphs [Figures 1 and 2] it is obvious that both the use of petroleum and the affect on the atmosphere, concerning carbon dioxide levels, both increase from the years 1959 to 1968.
[Figure 1 – The amount of petroleum emission in million
metric tons of carbon dioxide during the years 1959 to 1968]
[Figure 2 – Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide levels in
Mauna Loa, Hawaii during the years 1959 to 1968]
There is a steady increase in the emission of petroleum [Figure 1] compared to the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels [Figure 2] where there are certain displacements in the graph for example in the year 1960 there is a noticeable increase by 1.43ppm. In 1961 there is a slight decrease in the atmospheric carbon dioxide level by 0.18ppm. From the years 1961 to 1964 there is a stable increase in carbon dioxide levels and then there is a sudden plunge in the graph in the year 1965. After that in the year 1966 there is a significant increase in the atmospheric carbon dioxide level. Comparing 1968 to 1959 there is a momentous difference of 7.2ppm showing the vast increase in carbon dioxide levels present in the atmosphere during the selected ten years.
Looking at the graphs [Figures 3 and 4] it is obvious that both the use of petroleum and the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels increase during the years 1997 to 2006.
[Figure 3 - The amount of petroleum emission in million
metric tons of carbon dioxide during the years 1997 to 2006]
[Figure 4 – Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide levels in
Mauna Loa, Hawaii during the years 1997 to 2006]
The amount of petroleum emission Figure 3 has a varied increase in its values however, it still increases from the years 1997 to 2006 and so does the carbon dioxide levels as can be seen in Figure 4. In Figure 3 it is possible to see a mild stability in petroleum emission during the years 2001 and 2002, but as can been seen in Figure 4 even though the petroleum emission stayed stable the amount of carbon dioxide levels continuously increased. This outcome may have been feasible because of other carbon emitting products such as coal, natural gas, etc. Between the years 2002 and 2004 we can see a steep increase in petroleum usage, which should have predictably increased the amount of carbon dioxide dramatically but instead in Figure 3 there is a continuous stable increase. From the years 2005 to 2006 there is a remarkable decrease in petroleum usage but as before there is no preliminary change to the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
Comparing the years 1959-1968 and 1997-2006 there is a definite difference between the amounts of petroleum usage for each segment. For example using the amount of petroleum emission in 1968 and 2006 there is a difference of 789.3 million metric tones of carbon dioxide. There is also a great increase of carbon dioxide levels during these 2 years of 58.85ppm. By using the data a possible conclusion is that as the years have increased the effects of petroleum have also had a great effect on the atmosphere.
Conclusion:
From the data collected it is possible to conclude that as the petroleum emission increases the amount of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere also increases. From Figures 1 and 3 we can also see an immense difference between the amounts of petroleum used during 1959-1968 and 1997-2006. The vast difference between the amounts of petroleum usage could be because of the increased amount of vehicles and industries that use petroleum causing the carbon dioxide levels to steep also. From Figure 3 there is an obvious decrease in petroleum usage between 2004 and 2006 but in Figure 4 there is no significant difference on the stable increase of carbon dioxide emission. This is probably so because other factors might have also affected the rising carbon dioxide levels proving that petroleum is not a minor however also not a major contributor to the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
