Turning a camera off at virtual meetings can help save the planet

A new study suggests that turning the camera on at meaningful meetings can help “save the planet.” The recent discovery said that hiding is not only clutter but also environmental movement. is environmentally friendly.

The Phys.org report reveals that this new research finds that, despite a higher decline in global carbon emissions in 2020, the conversion of COVID-19 to “remote work and more entertainment ”Continues to drive environmental impact due to the way internet data is stored and moved around the world.

As noted in the study, just an hour of video conferencing or streaming, for example, releases about 150 to 1,500 grams of carbon dioxide. This equates to one gallon of gasoline burned from a car, which emits about 8,887 grams, requires about two to 12 liters of water, and a land area that adds up to around the size of one iPad Mini.

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Science Times - Environmental Study reveals how turning off a camera at meaningful meetings can help save the planet

(Photo: Armin Schreijäg on Pixabay)
A new study suggests turning off the camera at meaningful meetings to ‘save the planet.’

Footprints reduced when the camera is turned off

Researchers estimate that leaving the camera on while calling the web can reduce footprints by 96 percent.

Additionally, streaming content using standard definition or SD, instead of high definition or HD while using apps like Hulu or Netflix, could also get an 86 percent reduction.

This study from researchers at Purdue University, Yale University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is the first to study the water and land traces connected to an internet infrastructure on top of carbon footprints. Results have been published in the journal Resources, Conservation & Recycling.

According to Purdue Roshanak “Roshi” Nateghi, a business engineering professor, if one is to focus on just one type of footprint, he will miss others who can “take a more holistic view of environmental impact.”

Nateghi’s work aims to reveal gaps and assumptions in energy research that have led to disregard for the effects of climate change.

Increase in internet traffic

The study also found that several countries have reported an increase of at least 20 percent in internet traffic since March last year.

If the trend continues through this year, this increase in internet usage alone would require about 71,600 miles of land, doubling the area of ​​Indiana land, to seal the carbon released .

The researchers also specified in their study that the extra water needed to process and transmit data would be enough to “fill more than 300,000 Olympic swimming pools,” while the discovery a ground foot that would result in the same size as the size of Los Angeles.

In their study, the researchers estimated the carbon, water, and land traces associated with each gigabyte of data used in tech apps such as Facebook, YouTube, Zoom, TikTok, and Twitter, among others. other platforms, including online games and random web surfing.

As you would expect, the more the video flows through an application, the greater the footprint. Because data processing uses a lot of electricity, and any electricity production has traces of carbon, water and land, reducing data downloads reduces damage to the environment.

Carbon footprint

Kaveh Madani, a former visitor at the Yale MacMillan Center who led and directed this new research, said banking systems have a positive impact on the environment going paperless.

However, no one is telling the benefit of turning off the camera or reducing the quality of online video streaming. So, without permission, Madani said, these platforms increase a person’s environmental footprint.

The internet’s carbon footprint had already been on the rise even before the locks introduced the pandemic, accounting for about 3.7 percent of greenhouse gas emissions across the country. the world.

Nonetheless, internet infrastructure waterfalls and landfills have been extensively examined in several studies on how internet use affects the environment, Madani explained.

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