Have you ever thought about visiting all of the national parks in the U.S. in one epic road trip?
In 2016, data scientist Randy Olson optimized the route of 14,498 miles (23,333 km) which would take 2+ months. He even designed the journey as a circle so you can begin at any point & direction.
Assuming on average ~250 grams of CO2/km, that roughly equals to 5.8 tons of CO2, out of 2t of one person's yearly carbon budget (to reach carbon neutrality¹) for this single trip.
Let's hope those doing it would make these 2 months a year by using more sustainable means of transportation 😅
(Very interesting calculation nonetheless, thanks for sharing it @Sheril 🙂)
¹ assuming it has to be equally divided between all humans, which is debatable.
I'm a former National Park Service person - part of their climate change team - so want to add a note to this map and a caution about what it shows:
There are currently 423 units of the national park system. All of these are national parks. The units with the designation National Park (the 59 or so shown on this map) are by and large a function of history. "National Park" was used for units set up in the early history of the NPS, which is when many of the large parks known for their scenery were set up. Congress began to diversify national park designations - National Seashore, National Recreation Area, National Historical Site, etc. - in the mid-20th century. These aren't any less national parks, they just have more descriptive names.
Why recognizing this matters - the 423 units of the national park system cover many aspects of US history - and include many that are trying bring more balance and equity to national-scale stories - ex. Stonewall National Monument, Cesar Chavez National Monument, Rosie the Riveter National Historical Site. But none of these are named Nati... show more
I'm a former National Park Service person - part of their climate change team - so want to add a note to this map and a caution about what it shows:
There are currently 423 units of the national park system. All of these are national parks. The units with the designation National Park (the 59 or so shown on this map) are by and large a function of history. "National Park" was used for units set up in the early history of the NPS, which is when many of the large parks known for their scenery were set up. Congress began to diversify national park designations - National Seashore, National Recreation Area, National Historical Site, etc. - in the mid-20th century. These aren't any less national parks, they just have more descriptive names.
Why recognizing this matters - the 423 units of the national park system cover many aspects of US history - and include many that are trying bring more balance and equity to national-scale stories - ex. Stonewall National Monument, Cesar Chavez National Monument, Rosie the Riveter National Historical Site. But none of these are named National Park. So when maps that show only National Parks are made and shared, they are cutting out major parts of US heritage that are also protected and important to see.
We did a family road trip across Canada in our Hyundai Kona EV last summer of 10,000mi/16,000km and I figured we generated around 630kg of CO2, mostly in still coal fired Alberta and Saskatchewan. That’s about 0.04kg/km. I would imagine the average CO2 intensity of electricity in the USA would be larger. But hopefully in time it will get better. Would love to do this! We visited or drove through 9 Canadian National Parks. 😀 #EV #roadtrip #CO2
Dear reader, if you're here you're already interested in electric vehicles (EVs). Perhaps you already own one, or perhaps you're just curious, but like so many of us you're trying to figure out if they and the infrastructure they need are actually re…
When I moved from Nebraska to Oregon I camped my way via National Parks (Badlands, Yellowstone, Craters of the Moon) and I had an amazing experience. Putting this on my bucket list!
Sounds like a great idea! While I was growing up, my parents took all of us on cross-country trips visiting many of the national parks-- up to 10,000 miles in one trip. While I was too young to fully appreciate it at the time, the memories last to this day and I continue to revisit and enjoy many of the national parks. #nature #travel
Having been to over 40 of the national parks, I can solidly say "No!". I do intend on having kids soon & taking them to at least most of the national & many state parks throughout the USA, but, beyond the obviously missing parks in Alaska and Hawaii (Denali being among the parks I've visited)to just rush through all these places so quickly won't allow any of said parks to be truly experienced, but also having driven on many of these &other long roadways>> #NationalParks #Travel #Mapping
kechpaja
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •(Hopefully Florida, Texas, and the other southern states will one day be safe for everyone to visit.)
Lapineige
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Let's hope those doing it would make these 2 months a year by using more sustainable means of transportation 😅
(Very interesting calculation nonetheless, thanks for sharing it @Sheril 🙂)
¹ assuming it has to be equally divided between all humans, which is debatable.
René M. Grabow
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •(Sad that there are so few.)
fartshitass
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •SallyX
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Marcy Rockman
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •There are currently 423 units of the national park system. All of these are national parks. The units with the designation National Park (the 59 or so shown on this map) are by and large a function of history. "National Park" was used for units set up in the early history of the NPS, which is when many of the large parks known for their scenery were set up. Congress began to diversify national park designations - National Seashore, National Recreation Area, National Historical Site, etc. - in the mid-20th century. These aren't any less national parks, they just have more descriptive names.
Why recognizing this matters - the 423 units of the national park system cover many aspects of US history - and include many that are trying bring more balance and equity to national-scale stories - ex. Stonewall National Monument, Cesar Chavez National Monument, Rosie the Riveter National Historical Site. But none of these are named Nati... show more
There are currently 423 units of the national park system. All of these are national parks. The units with the designation National Park (the 59 or so shown on this map) are by and large a function of history. "National Park" was used for units set up in the early history of the NPS, which is when many of the large parks known for their scenery were set up. Congress began to diversify national park designations - National Seashore, National Recreation Area, National Historical Site, etc. - in the mid-20th century. These aren't any less national parks, they just have more descriptive names.
Why recognizing this matters - the 423 units of the national park system cover many aspects of US history - and include many that are trying bring more balance and equity to national-scale stories - ex. Stonewall National Monument, Cesar Chavez National Monument, Rosie the Riveter National Historical Site. But none of these are named National Park. So when maps that show only National Parks are made and shared, they are cutting out major parts of US heritage that are also protected and important to see.
Thanks for the space to share this!
#Heritage
#Climate Heritage
Bryan Hansel
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Uncle PJ
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Roadskater, Ph.D.
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •slugfarm
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •The Curse of La Mikey McFilms
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Jay Bikay PhD
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Chris Alemany🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇸
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •#EV #roadtrip #CO2
https://chrisalemany.ca/2022/08/15/saving-co2-on-a-cross-country-ev-journey/
Saving CO2 on a Cross Country EV Journey - Murkyview
chrisale (Murkyview)Chris B
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Kaj of the Creek
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Tim Stanton
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •David Gonzalez
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Swagpuss McG
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •As a law abiding citizen of planet earth, I shouldn't be thinking about dangerous arrest practices before visiting your nation.
Also kinda don't want shot a lot. Holes is for swiss cheez
Rick Thoman
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Malka Beth
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •#NationalParks #Travel #Mapping
Dennis Howard
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Bodling
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Tim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPE
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •JevidL
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Michael Cervieri
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •i'm insanely jealous.
RevLee
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •seb hanlon 😷
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •gmoke
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •I think you could do an epic ferry trip island hopping from Puerto Rico to Venezuela or Colombia.
Hedge Wytch
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •BadExampleMan 🟣
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •