How many Formula One races would it take to raise the temperature of the Earth by 1°C?

Authors

  • Eleanor DAVIES University of Leicester

Keywords:

Sports, Formula One, Thermodynamics, Environment, Cars

Abstract

This paper investigates the number of Formula One races it would take to raise the Earth’s global temperature by one degree Celsius. This was done by calculating the carbon dioxide emissions of a Formula One Grand Prix and then comparing it to carbon dioxide ppm levels and corresponding global temperatures. It was calculated that 6.54x10¹⁰ races would need to take place to raise the temperature of the Earth by 1°C, which is the equivalent of 3,100,000,000 years.

References

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Hansen, K. (2010). NASA - Carbon Dioxide Controls Earth's Temperature. Nasa.gov. Available at: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/co2-temperature.html [Accessed 21 February 2018].

Earthobservatory.nasa.gov. (2018). The Carbon Cycle: Feature Articles | Effects of Changing the Carbon Cycle. Available at: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/CarbonCycle/page5.php [Accessed 21 February 2018].

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Ornstein, D. (2007). Formula One: Earth car will emit over 50 tonnes of CO2. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/mar/02/formulaone.sport [Accessed 21 February 2018].

Formula One World Championship Limited (2018b) Points, classification and race distance. Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website. Available at: https://www.formula1.com/en/championship/inside-f1/rules-regs/Classification_Race_distance_and_Points.html [Accessed 21 February 2018].

Haby, J. (n.d.). How many molecules of air are in the atmosphere? Theweatherprediction.com. Available at: http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints3/976/ [Accessed 21 February 2018].

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Published

26.03.2018

How to Cite

DAVIES, E. (2018). How many Formula One races would it take to raise the temperature of the Earth by 1°C?. Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics, 7. Retrieved from https://journals.le.ac.uk/index.php/jist/article/view/2696

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Section

Articles