digitalization & Climate
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic many aspects of our lives have been digitalized such as education, health care, work conferences, and businesses. As consumers, we do not often stop to think about how our surging use of technology throughout the past two years is affecting climate change. In the modern world everything we do on the web has it’s subsequent environmental impact and our increased reliance on digitalization has a hidden, unsustainable cost to our planet. According to the NYLVC “Globally, the electricity used by internet-related services causes 2% of all carbon emissions. While this may not seem like much, it is about equal to the carbon emissions produced by airplanes every year, and as internet access becomes more widespread this number will continue to grow”(Hidden, 3). In order to properly address the topic of climate change globally, we must consider the sustainability of our digital lives.
The unprecedented consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a forcible change in our society and the way it functions. The virus has made it unfeasible to for us continue to work and live in our traditional capacities due to health concerns; however, this has led to health concerns for the well being of our planet’s atmosphere. According to Yale News “Published in the journal Resources, Conservation, and Recycling, the study estimates that internet usage increased by up to 40% worldwide following the issuance of stay-at-home orders from January through March 2020 as the virus spread.” (Surge in Digital, 3). Although the amount of travel related emissions throughout the pandemic has drastically decreased, as our use of digital technology rises exponentially, so does the amount of greenhouse gases in our planet’s atmosphere.
As stated by Yale News “If remote working and other physical distancing requirements were to continue through 2021, an additional 34.3 million tons in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases would be generated worldwide, the study forecasts.”(Surge in Digital, 5). Nationally, we have surpassed this point already and will continue our technology related emissions at a dangerously unsustainable rate. If we hope to secure global net-zero by 2050 and keep 1.5C degrees within our grasp, as well as adapt to protect communities and natural habitats, we have to address our hidden carbon emissions from the digitalization of our lives. To put into perspective, in order to offset the carbon emissions from just a year of digital living we would need to plant a forest almost 70,000 square miles. Compounded over a decade long period, these impacts will directly fight against the goals established at the 2021 Glasglow Climate Conference.
Cummings, Mike. “Surge in Digital Activity Has Hidden Environmental Costs.” Yale News, Yale University, 27 Jan. 2021, news.yale.edu/2021/01/27/surge-digital-activity-has-hidden-environmental-costs.
“Hidden Environmental Impacts of New Technologies.” NYLVC, New York League of Conservation Voters, 24 July 2018, nylcv.org/news/hidden-environmental-impacts-new-technologies/.
