{"id":820110,"date":"2026-05-25T01:53:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T01:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/820110\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T01:53:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T01:53:16","slug":"scientists-discover-major-errors-in-al-gore-founded-climate-pollution-database","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/820110\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists Discover Major Errors in Al Gore-Founded Climate Pollution Database"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Greenhouse<\/a>Researchers examining urban transportation emissions uncovered major discrepancies between two leading carbon-tracking systems, with some cities showing unexpectedly large gaps. Credit: Stock<\/p>\n

An analysis found that Climate TRACE may substantially underestimate city vehicle CO2 emissions, raising concerns about data accuracy in climate policy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of the world\u2019s most widely used climate emissions estimates could be missing far more pollution than anyone realized.<\/p>\n

A new study from Northern Arizona University<\/a> reports that the global greenhouse gas emissions database created by the Climate TRACE consortium, co-founded by former Vice President Al Gore, may be undercounting vehicle carbon dioxide emissions in cities by an average of 70%.<\/p>\n

The findings, published in Environmental Research Letters, come as governments and cities increasingly rely on high-resolution emissions data to shape climate policy and track progress toward emissions goals.<\/p>\n

Led by Kevin Gurney, a professor in NAU\u2019s School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems (SICCS), the study examined how Climate TRACE estimated emissions from cars and trucks and compared those figures against established transportation and fuel-use data. According to Gurney, the discrepancies \u2014 combined with similar issues his team previously identified in power plant emissions estimates \u2014 raise broader concerns about the reliability of rapidly emerging AI-driven climate monitoring systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the importance of vehicle CO2 emissions in cities, we carefully examined the Climate TRACE data which relied on promising new artificial intelligence-based approaches,\u201d Gurney said. \u201cWhen combined with our previous study on Climate TRACE power plant CO2 emissions, our results suggest that the Climate TRACE data significantly underestimate over half of U.S. fossil fuel-based CO2 emissions in cities.\u201d<\/p>\n

A city-by-city comparison found gaps<\/p>\n

Gurney and his colleagues compared Climate TRACE estimates for urban vehicle CO2 emissions in the United States with Vulcan, a similar \u201conroad\u201d emissions database developed in Gurney\u2019s lab. Vulcan is calibrated using official traffic and energy use data.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the Vulcan onroad data is not perfect, with uncertainty of about 14%, this is far lower than the differences found when we compared 260 city vehicle CO2 emissions in the U.S. to the Climate TRACE database,\u201d said Bilal Aslam, a SICCS postdoc and co-investigator on the study. \u201cThe Climate TRACE CO2 emissions were, on average, 70% lower than those same emissions in the Vulcan onroad CO2 emissions database.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIndividual cities such as Indianapolis and Nashville were lower by more than 90%,\u201d added Pawlok Dass, a research associate in SICCS and contributor to the study. The study\u2019s authors suspect that the undercounting may also occur outside the United States, and they raise broader concerns about other parts of the Climate TRACE database.<\/p>\n

AI still needs scientific guardrails<\/p>\n

The authors say artificial intelligence could become a powerful tool for measuring many environmental indicators, but they stress that accuracy still depends on scientific rigor, transparency, and review by experts. Reliable greenhouse gas estimates remain a foundation for effective climate policy.<\/p>\n

The publication also offers several recommendations for improving Climate TRACE\u2019s work so that it can better support policy and budget decisions aimed at cutting emissions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will never estimate emissions with perfect accuracy, but we must ensure that the data shared with policymakers and the public is unbiased and meets best practices and the most rigorous scientific standards available,\u201d Gurney said. \u201cWithout this, we mislead decision-makers and potentially lose public trust in our ability to tackle climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reference: \u201cAssessing the accuracy of the Climate Trace global vehicular CO2 emissions\u201d by Kevin R Gurney, Bilal Aslam and Pawlok Dass, 5 May 2026, Environmental Research Letters.
DOI: 10.1088\/1748-9326\/ae6355<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: Gurney, who specializes in atmospheric science, ecology, and public policy, has spent the past two decades developing a standardized system quantifying greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. His Vulcan and Hestia projects, funded by multiple federal agencies, quantify and visualize greenhouse gases emitted across the entire country down to individual power plants, neighborhoods, and roadways, identifying \u201chotspots\u201d and enabling better decisions about where to cut emissions most effectively. His estimates have shown excellent performance when compared to direct atmospheric monitoring.<\/p>\n

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