CARIE

Transportation is one of the largest sources of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions which is a contributing factor to air pollution and climate change, the more cities continue to grow, the more the use of vehicles and other transportation sources leading to higher emission levels, particularly in areas with more traffic concentration. This project analyses the spatial patterns of CO2 emissions in the City of Lethbridge using GIS. We performed spatial analysis to identify areas with high and low emissions, these analyses are spatial autocorrelation, kriging Interpolation, hotspot Analysis (Getis Ord Gi) and spatial overlay (emissions with population density and land use). The results from these analyses showed that emission hotspots in the city are concentrated in high-traffic areas, major intersections and major transportation corridors such as Mayor Magrath and third avenue intersection, Mayor Magrath and Scenic intersection. It also showed that population density alone is not a direct cause of high CO₂ emissions, as some high-emission areas were in low-density zones and vice-versa. Lastly, it showed that land use strongly influences emission levels, with commercial and institutional areas showing higher levels of emissions due to the traffic volume, major roads and major intersections surrounding them.