Killing Polar Bears
It’s not a promising start in this article for the Vancouver Sun.
Could the Net be killing the planet one web search at a time?
Great question. Rather like Could Ed Miliband Ever Be Not Crap – the answer is obviously NO but it gives you something to think about whilst you brush your teeth in the morning.
And they’ve got a picture caption which reads:
Every Facebook update and LOL cat you post contributes to global warming, due to the server industry’s dependence on coal-fired electricity.
Every LOL cat? Really? Although the idea of a LOL Polar Bear suddenly appeals now; just for irony value.
It’s Saturday night, and you want to catch the latest summer blockbuster. You do a quick Google search to find the venue and right time, and off you go to enjoy some mindless fun.
Meanwhile, your Internet search has just helped kill the planet. Depending on how long you took and what sites you visited, your search caused the emission of one to 10 grams of carbon into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.
Sure, it’s not a lot on its own — but add up all of the more than one billion daily Google searches, throw in 60 million Facebook status updates each day, 50 million daily tweets and 250 billion emails per day, and you’re making a serious dent in some Greenland glaciers.
By reading this, you’ve just murdered a polar bear. Which means that Al Gore, Inventor of the Internet™, has definitely got some splainin’ to do.
“By reading this, you’ve just murdered a polar bear” …
Yeah .. but it stopped the bugger from trampling all over my Glacier Mints didn’t it ? .. 😉
But if the Google search saved you from driving around looking for the movie venue it will have drastically reduced your CO2 emissions…
Which is BAD, since that starves a plant….
This is a complete load of crap, like everything else they say.
They just want to keep us off the net, to find out the REAL news!
If LOL cats captions will be rationed, I’m in big trouble 😉
It’s what *else* it might have dumped on your Glacier Mint you should be careful of…
What’s the damage from just downloading the movie though? You’d then have to factor in nipping out to the corner shop for popcorn and a bottle of wine.
I was thinking of you when the LOL cats came up, Bunni!
But yes, a very good point…if you want to find out what’s happening then check the net. And if you want people to stay in the dark – keep them off it.
Heh… hear about the wankers who traveled by plen, burning fossil fuels, from Britain to Australia to combat global warming?
Anyway, I hope my conscience won’t bother me… well, time for supper!
Oops, meant “by PLANE”
Supper? Polar bear steak I hope!
…oh and yes, you’d think that the eco-warriors would be the first to think of using tele-conferencing kit instead of those arduous flights in private jets to save-the-planet conferences which always, strangely, seem to be held in 5 star resorts on tropical islands.
Odd, that.
I say we go with this one and demand the enviromentalist set the example by removing all their blogs and websites.