Maximizing the Green in your Business

The University of Chicago researchers believe the health care sector is responsible for nearly one tenth of the country's carbon-dioxide emissions. The researchers took into account the activities such as hospital care, scientific research as well as the production and distribution of pharmaceutical drugs. More specifically the study showed the health care sector produces eight percent of the country's total carbon-dioxide output despite accounting for 16 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. The report was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

It is claiming to be the first of its kind calculation of the U.S. health care's carbon footprint, University of Chicago researchers used expenditures from different parts of the health-care sector to measure the industry's potential impact on global warming through the release of carbon dioxide and other green house gases.

The environmental impact of the health care sector may be larger than one suspected.