Carbon Impacts Tracer turns emissions into measurable human harm
A new tool translates carbon dioxide emissions into concrete climate impacts using peer-reviewed science.
Scientists at the Australian National University have launched the Carbon Impacts Tracer, a calculator that converts tonnes of emissions into real-world climate harms. The HVO coal mine in NSW, if approved, would emit about 809 million tonnes of CO2.
In concrete terms, that amount would expose almost half a million people to dangerous heat. The emissions would kill nearly 15 million coral colonies on the Great Barrier Reef every time it bleaches.
It would cut crop production enough to affect food for 276,000 people every year. The tool uses peer-reviewed climate science to link any project's emissions to eight measured impacts: from glacial melt to lost labour hours in heat.
Climate lawyer Maria Nawaz says companies have long argued their emissions are "just a drop in the ocean". This tool refutes that defence in court.
- 809 million tonnes CO2
- HVO mine emissions
- Almost half a million
- People exposed to heat
- Nearly 15 million
- Coral colonies killed per bleach
- 276,129
- Food-equivalent people affected annually
Why it mattersCoal and fossil fuel companies can no longer claim their emissions are too small to measure. The evidence now exists to link specific projects directly to climate harms.
AustraliaAustralian courts can now quantify climate damage in litigation over fossil fuel projects. This affects approval decisions for major mines and coal plants across the country.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 h ago
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