Fossil CO2 emissions from warehouse and distribution centers in Southern California’s Inland Empire
Data files
Mar 02, 2026 version files 7.17 KB
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2026_Warehouse_Growth.csv
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2026_Warehouse_Radiocarbon.csv
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README.md
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Abstract
The rise of e-commerce has led to a rapid expansion of warehouses and distribution centers (W&DCs). However, impacts of e-commerce logistics, including emissions of fossil fuel-derived carbon dioxide (ffCO2) on urban greenhouse gas inventories, remain poorly quantified. Here, we developed a 40-year tree-ring radiocarbon (14C) record to isolate ffCO2enhancements within a W&DC cluster and in the urban background of Southern California’s Inland Empire, a region of concentrated W&DC growth during this period.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.x95x69pz8
Description of the data and file structure
This dataset consists of two files. ’2026_Warehouse_Radiocarbon.xlsx’ contains radiocarbon measurements and their associated error. ‘2026_Warehouse_Growth.xlsx’ contains the area of warehouse constructions and year constructed.
The contents of each file are described in detail below, with both files possessing a traditional data table format. The file name is listed, followed by a description of what rows in the file mean. The significance of each of the file headers are laid out according to “-> [Heading]: [description]”
Files and variables
File: 2026_Warehouse_Growth.csv
Description: Each row represents a different warehouse or distribution center within a cluster in Riverside, California for historical satellite imagery available in Google Earth up to December 2023.
Variables
- Year First Seen: The first year the warehouse or distribution center appears on Google Earth’s historical satellite imagery as a completed structure. Buildings under construction in the satellite images were not considered as completed structures.
- Area (m^2): The area in square meters the warehouse building’s footprint occupies.
- Growth or Expansion: Identifies whether a warehouse or distribution center footprint is an expansion of a pre-existing building (‘expansion’) or a separate, new building (‘growth’).
File: 2026_Warehouse_Radiocarbon.csv
Description: Each row represents a different sample processed for radiocarbon content from two urban tree cores. The cores were sliced into annual tree rings, processed into alpha-cellulose, and graphitized before measuring their radiocarbon content.
Variables
- KCCAMS Terra: Identification number used for samples analyzed by the University of California, Irvine’s W. M. Keck Carbon Cycle Accelerator Mass Spectrometer facility on the Mini Carbon Dating System (MICADAS).
- UCIS: Identification number used for samples prepared for radiocarbon analysis at the University of California, Irvine’s W. M. Keck Carbon Cycle Accelerator Mass Spectrometer facility.
- Location: Location of tree core the sample is derived from, with relation to the study site. ‘Residential’ samples are from a Jeffrey Pine (Pinus jeffreyi BALF.) located 1.8 km upwind of a warehouse and distribution center cluster in Riverside, California. ‘Warehouse’ samples are from a Red Pine (P. resinosa AITON.) located within the warehouse and distribution center cluster.
- Year: Average time the sample grew over, considering an April to September growing season, determined using dendrochronology.
- Fraction Modern: The radiocarbon signature of the sample, corrected for isotopic fractionation. Unitless.
- Measurement Error: The 1 sigma measurement uncertainty of the radiocarbon measurement, reported in fraction modern. Unitless.