North Nassau 'Much Higher' Emissions, Climate Impact Than Average: Report

NASSAU COUNTY, NY — Parts of Nassau County's North Shore have among the highest levels of emissions on Long Island. That's according to a map showing the climate impact of different parts of the metropolitan New York area, published Tuesday by The New York Times.

The interactive map shows how each census tract compares to the U.S. average. The Nassau neighborhoods that are tagged "much higher" than average include Old Westbury, Mill Neck, parts of Manhasset, Lattingtown and Brookville.

The City of Glen Cove tracks lower than surrounding areas, as does downtown Mineola. Oyster Bay's downtown area is average. The bulk of the rest of North Nassau shows higher than average in most emissions categories.

See the full map and story here.

The Times used data from the Cool Climate Network, a University of California at Berkeley project. The data tracks the average household emissions associated with transportation, food, housing, goods and services by census tract.

The research took a decade, the Times explained, and was developed as a method to track the consumption driving climate warming rather than only measure greenhouse gasses at their sources. The map data comes from a simplified mathematical model, estimating average household electricity use, car ownership, income levels, and consumption.

Areas with more public transportation use and lower income show lower emissions than the national average, and conversely, high-income areas like parts of North Nassau have higher emissions driven by things like more air travel, household electricity use, and simply buying more and more expensive stuff.