In the US the average person emits a metric ton of CO2 every two weeks. For the developed world as a whole it takes an average of one month. In the developing world, three months.

Ever wonder how big a metric ton of carbon dioxide really is? It’s a measurement thrown around in green circles and even mainstream media all the time, but a rather intangible concept. You can’t see a metric ton of CO2 emissions the same way you can a clear-cut forest.

With the Copenhagen convention to be held this coming December, the UN and an organization called Millennium Art are attempting to help us visualize a metric ton of CO2 with their project CO2 Cubes: Visualize a Tonne of Change.

CO2 Cubes will be a contemporary art exhibition held at UN buildings around the world, where life-size representations of a ton of CO2 will be on display.

Turns out a metric ton of CO2 is, in fact, 27 feet cubed (27 feet high by 27 feet wide by feet deep) or 8.2 meters cubed in metric. To get a feel for how big this is, check out the image that looks like its in night vision on Millennium Art’s site. The onlookers admiring the cube in that image are meant to provide a scale.

CO2 cubes will launch in October 2009 at the UN Headquarters in New York. The next unveiling will come in Kyoto in November and then Copenhagen during the COP-15.

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