Billions of eyes are glued firmly to the internet, which has become a sort of window to the world for much of humanity . Internet penetration has only grown during the pandemic . And if in 2001 only 8% of the world's population had succumbed to the charms of the internet, today that percentage is already around 60%.
by leaps and bounds albania number data , the carbon emissions hidden in our rampant online consumption often remain in the shadows (and the endless scrolling we do every day on the Internet steals even more oxygen from the already suffocating planet Earth).
Carbon emissions from the Internet are all part of the equation , from the devices we connect to the Internet to the network infrastructure and data centres. According to the BBC , carbon emissions directly caused by the Internet account for 3.7% of greenhouse gas emissions generated globally. This is a proportion that exceeds emissions from aviation (2.5%), which, on the other hand, has a much weaker reputation in terms of environmental issues.
Furthermore, the metaverse that is just around the corner will predictably (and exponentially) multiply the environmental footprint left behind by the Internet. So what can we Internet users do to put a stop to the "bad vibes" of the network of networks?
What we can do as users to limit emissions generated by the Internet
First of all, we should consider using (whenever possible) a WiFi network instead of the cellular networks lurking in our smartphone. Opting for 5G (or failing that, 4G) on our smartphone generates up to twice as much energy as WiFi.
Another habit we would do well to adopt (immediately) is to renew our smartphone less frequently (and in this sense appease our fear of becoming outdated). Not in vain, 84% of the carbon emissions generated, for example, by an iPhone 13 Max occur before even opening the box. We should therefore renew our mobile devices less often or alternatively buy refurbished phones, as Fast Company reports .
Curing our (possibly incurable) addiction to Netflix and the like may be impossible, but we should at least know that video generates more carbon emissions than images and text on the web. Scrolling through TikTok for one minute results in twice as many CO2 emissions as scrolling through Instagram for the same amount of time.