A network of air monitors installed in Northern California has provided scientists with some of the first measurable evidence quantifying how much electric vehicles are shrinking the carbon footprint of a large urban area. Researchers from UC Berkeley set up dozens of sensors across the Bay Area to monitor planet-warming carbon dioxide, the super-abundant greenhouse gas produced when fossil fuels are burned. Between 2018 and 2022, the region's carbon emissions fell by 1.
We don't yet see significant movement in those, but policy pushing on those is not as far ahead as policy on electric vehicles.' Although cities only cover roughly 3% of global surface area, they produce about 70% of carbon emissions. Urban monitoring networks could give policymakers a more granular view of the sources of pollution. Los Angeles and other major cities have set up Cohen's monitors in hopes it could reveal more insights about carbon emissions and air pollution.