This pandemic taught us to shift everything online. Classes, business meetings, and streaming have been conducted online that made a record drop in global carbon emissions last year, 2020.

However, a new study suggested that internet data that is stored and transferred around the world presents significant environmental impact.

An hour of video conferencing or streaming is found to emit 150-1000 grams of carbon dioxide. But turning off your camera during call can reduce footprints by 96%. Watching videos in standard definition rather than in high definition could also bring 86% reduction, from the researchers’ estimate.

The study was conducted by researchers from Purdue University, Yale University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The researchers investigated different types of footprint. They figured out that increase in internet use by 20% requires a forest of about 71,600 square miles to sequester the emitted carbon. Increase in electricity consumption and water consumption to process and transmit data will result into an additional massive land footprint.

The team estimated the carbon, water and land footprints associated with each gigabytes of data used in YouTube, Zoom, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and 12 others. As expected, the more video used, the larger the footprints.

Although this data are rough estimates, it can still help to document a trend to bring a comprehensive understanding of footprints associated with internet use.

Now, when your teacher asked you as to why you turn off your camera during online discussions, you can safely say it’s your way of saving the planet.

Source:
Renee Obringer, Benjamin Rachunok, Debora Maia-Silva, Maryam Arbabzadeh, Roshanak Nateghi, Kaveh Madani. The overlooked environmental footprint of increasing Internet use. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 2021; 167: 105389 DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105389

Purdue University. (2021, January 14). Turn off that camera during virtual meetings, environmental study says: Simple tips to go green with your internet use during a pandemic. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 20, 2021 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210114134033.htm