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==Role of air travel in academia== | ==Role of air travel in academia== | ||
The individual emissions of academic researchers are high compared to other professionals, "primarily as a result of emissions from flying to conferences, project meetings, and fieldwork". Beyond their usefulness for doing research, these travels are motivated by career incentives, as decisions to award faculty positions or research funding depend in part on the applicants' activity as speakers at international conferences. | The individual emissions of academic researchers are high compared to other professionals, "primarily as a result of emissions from flying to conferences, project meetings, and fieldwork".<ref name="Tyndall"/><ref name="Fois 2016"/> Beyond their usefulness for doing research, these travels are motivated by career incentives, as decisions to award faculty positions or research funding depend in part on the applicants' activity as speakers at international conferences. | ||
Touristic opportunities also contribute to motivating these travels, which are considered as a perk of the profession.<ref name="Tyndall"/> | Touristic opportunities also contribute to motivating these travels, which are considered as a perk of the profession.<ref name="Tyndall"/> | ||
the | the | ||
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==Activism== | ==Activism== | ||
===Consequences of scientists' emissions on their credibility=== | ===Consequences of scientists' emissions on their credibility=== | ||
Important motivations for scientists to fly less are to lead by example, and to be more credible when communicating to the public on climate change. These motivations are particularly important in the case of climate scientists. | Important motivations for scientists to fly less are to lead by example, and to be more credible when communicating to the public on climate change.<ref name="Fois 2016"/> These motivations are particularly important in the case of climate scientists. | ||
A 2016 survey has found that climate researchers' carbon footprints have a large effect on their credibility, and on participants' intentions to reduce their personal energy consumption.<ref name="Attari 2016"/> | A 2016 survey has found that climate researchers' carbon footprints have a large effect on their credibility, and on participants' intentions to reduce their personal energy consumption.<ref name="Attari 2016"/> | ||
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<ref name="Song16">{{cite journal | last=Song | first=Guobao | last2=Che | first2=Li | last3=Zhang | first3=Shushen | title=Carbon footprint of a scientific publication: A case study at Dalian University of Technology, China | journal=Ecological Indicators | publisher=Elsevier BV | volume=60 | year=2016 | issn=1470-160X | doi=10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.06.044 | pages=275–282}}</ref> | <ref name="Song16">{{cite journal | last=Song | first=Guobao | last2=Che | first2=Li | last3=Zhang | first3=Shushen | title=Carbon footprint of a scientific publication: A case study at Dalian University of Technology, China | journal=Ecological Indicators | publisher=Elsevier BV | volume=60 | year=2016 | issn=1470-160X | doi=10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.06.044 | pages=275–282}}</ref> | ||
<ref name="Attari 2016">{{cite journal | last=Attari | first=Shahzeen Z. | last2=Krantz | first2=David H. | last3=Weber | first3=Elke U. | title=Statements about climate researchers’ carbon footprints affect their credibility and the impact of their advice | journal=Climatic Change | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=138 | issue=1-2 | date=2016-06-16 | issn=0165-0009 | doi=10.1007/s10584-016-1713-2 | pages=325–338}}</ref> | <ref name="Attari 2016">{{cite journal | last=Attari | first=Shahzeen Z. | last2=Krantz | first2=David H. | last3=Weber | first3=Elke U. | title=Statements about climate researchers’ carbon footprints affect their credibility and the impact of their advice | journal=Climatic Change | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=138 | issue=1-2 | date=2016-06-16 | issn=0165-0009 | doi=10.1007/s10584-016-1713-2 | pages=325–338}}</ref> | ||
<ref name="Fois 2016">{{cite journal | last=Fois | first=Mauro | last2=Cuena-Lombraña | first2=Alba | last3=Fristoe | first3=Trevor | last4=Fenu | first4=Giuseppe | last5=Bacchetta | first5=Gianluigi | title=Reconsidering alternative transportation systems to reach academic conferences and to convey an example to reduce greenhouse gas emissions | journal=History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=38 | issue=4 | year=2016 | issn=0391-9714 | doi=10.1007/s40656-016-0126-x | page=}}</ref> | |||
}} | }} | ||
[[Category:Air travel]] | [[Category:Air travel]] | ||
[[Category:Academia]] | [[Category:Academia]] | ||
Revision as of 20:06, 11 February 2020
Air travel is an essential part of the professional lives of many academics, and a major source of pollution from that sector. In the context of the climate crisis, there have been appeals to reduce air travel by replacing it with other modes of transportation, replacing it with videoconferencing, or renouncing inessential trips.
Role of air travel in academia
The individual emissions of academic researchers are high compared to other professionals, "primarily as a result of emissions from flying to conferences, project meetings, and fieldwork".[1][2] Beyond their usefulness for doing research, these travels are motivated by career incentives, as decisions to award faculty positions or research funding depend in part on the applicants' activity as speakers at international conferences. Touristic opportunities also contribute to motivating these travels, which are considered as a perk of the profession.[1] the While conferences and meetings are important for exchanging ideas and nurturing professional relationships, this can also be done using alternative modes of communication such as videoconferencing and social media. It has been argued that the benefits of face-to-face meetings might be outweighed by the benefits of the alternatives, such as reaching wider communities.[1]
Attitudes of academics and their institutions
A 2014 study of three New Zealand universities found that rhetoric on sustainability coexisted with assumptions about the necessity to travel, and policies that encouraged travel.[3]
Emissions and their reduction
Estimated emissions
The Template:CO2 emissions for a single conference trip were estimated to 7% of an average individual’s total Template:CO2 emissions. The total emissions of scientists travelling to conferences for presenting papers were estimated to 0.228% of international aviation emissions in 2008.[4]
In a case study of a PhD project, mobility represented 75% of the carbon footprint, which could have been reduced by 44% using videoconferencing. The total emissions were 21.5t Template:CO2-eq or 2.69t Template:CO2-eq per peer-reviewed paper.[5] (In comparison, the carbon footprint of computers, printers, etc is estimated to only 5.44kg Template:CO2-eq per paper.[6])
Estimated possible reductions
Optimizing the locations of the conferences of the International Biogeography Society could reduce emissions by about 20%, according to a 2014 study.[7]
Activism
Consequences of scientists' emissions on their credibility
Important motivations for scientists to fly less are to lead by example, and to be more credible when communicating to the public on climate change.[2] These motivations are particularly important in the case of climate scientists.
A 2016 survey has found that climate researchers' carbon footprints have a large effect on their credibility, and on participants' intentions to reduce their personal energy consumption.[8]
Voluntary reduction in air travel
Some academics reduce or stop flying in order to reduce their individual carbon footprints and/or to lead by example.
Meteorologist Eric Holthaus stopped flying in 2014, and claimed that slow travel made "his world shrink and become richer".[9]
External links
- Les ressources, a list of references including many on academic air travel, by Labos 1point5.
References
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