If you don’t like to turn on the camera during meetings, then know that you now have an excuse for this.
A group of scientists from American and British universities conducted an unprecedented analysis of the effects of Internet use on the environment, examining how video calls and streaming services could contribute to users’ ecological footprint. The study was published in the journal Scientific Resources, Conservation and Recycling.
Kovid-19 epidemic may also be a reason Record drop in carbon dioxide emissions In 2020, but it also resulted in record use of the network, as many people started working and entertaining in their homes. This also increased the use of electricity. And in countries that do not have a very clean energy matrix, this is a problem.
Carbon bond The term used by environmentalists to refer to the amount of CO is2 Issued by an individual or company in its activities.
A one-hour video or streaming call can emit 440 grams and 160 grams of CO, respectively.2. For comparison, a passenger car releases 192G to cover 1 km.
There are also footprints Hydric I Terrestrial. They indicate, respectively, the amount of water or land required for an activity.
These footprints are larger than we thought. Produce one ton of red meat 15.4 million liters of water is required. The territorial footprint, in turn, manifests itself in vast areas of native forest, giving way to plantations or reservoirs of hydroelectric plants.
In the case of the Internet, you can pour water used to cool Google or Netflix data centers at the tip of a pencil, non-renewable electrical energy that can be used to supply them, and more.
A few simple gestures can mitigate that effect. Researchers at Purdue University, Yale University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology showed in the study that turning off the camera during videoconferencing could reduce these footprints by up to 96%.
For streaming services, video quality has to change from ideal to high definition for standard definition, Which can reduce problems by up to 86%.
Before the Kovid-19 epidemic became obstructive, the Internet contributed about 3.7% to global greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers in the study reported a 20% increase in Internet traffic in several countries since March 2020.
They state that, if this is a trend by the end of 2021, it will take a forest slightly larger than Syria (185,000 sq km) to absorb all the emitted carbon back. The survey is based on data from Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Carbon, water and land footprints are not proportional in all countries. For example, the Internet has 9% higher carbon footprint than the world average in the USA, while its water and land footprints are 45% and 58% smaller, respectively.
Germany, the world leader in renewable energy, has a much smaller carbon footprint than the world average, but in compensation, it has a 204% larger land footprint. In turn, the water footprint in Brazil is 218% above average.
The team also analyzed ecological footprints related to YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp and TikTok. But the biggest impact comes from the use of Netflix and Zoom. Remember this data on your next part Call.
