Related papers: The carbon footprint of astronomical research infr…
As Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use has become more prevalent, there has been a growing concern in how its associated greenhouse gas emissions will impact the climate. Estimating such ICT emissions is a difficult…
A large portion of astronomy's carbon footprint stems from fossil fuels supplying the power demand of astronomical observatories. Here, we explore various isolated low-carbon power system setups for the newly planned Atacama Large Aperture…
The conventional observables to identify a habitable or inhabited environment in exoplanets, such as an ocean glint or abundant atmospheric O$_2$, will be challenging to detect with present or upcoming observatories. Here we suggest a new…
Scientific workflows facilitate the automation of data analysis, and are used to process increasing amounts of data. Therefore, they tend to be resource-intensive and long-running, leading to significant energy consumption and carbon…
The proliferation of satellite megaconstellations in low Earth orbit (LEO) represents a significant advancement in global broadband connectivity. However, we urgently need to understand the potential environmental impacts, particularly…
This White Paper is a call to action for astronomers to respond to climate change with a large structural transition within our profession. Many astronomers are deeply concerned about climate change and act upon it in their personal and…
In the past decade, global warming made several headlines and turned the attention of the whole world to it. Carbon footprint is the main factor that drives greenhouse emissions up and results in the temperature increase of the planet with…
The importance of computing in astronomy continues to increase, and so is its impact on the environment. When analyzing data or performing simulations, most researchers raise concerns about the time to reach a solution rather than its…
The building sector is the largest emitter globally and as such is at the forefront of the net-zero emissions pathway. This study is the first to present a bottom-up assessment framework integrated with the decomposing structural…
Climate change is a major impending threat to the future of humanity. According to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), our emissions are estimated to have caused 0.8 deg C-1.2 deg C of anthropogenic global warming (AGW) above…
Research institutions are bound to contribute to greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reduction efforts for several reasons. First, part of the scientific community's research deals with climate change issues. Second, scientists contribute to…
Scientific research in many fields routinely requires the analysis of large datasets, and scientists often employ workflow systems to leverage clusters of computers for their data analysis. However, due to their size and scale, these…
We propose a statistical model to understand people's perception of their carbon footprint. Driven by the observation that few people think of CO2 impact in absolute terms, we design a system to probe people's perception from simple…
Estimating the greenhouse gas emissions of research-related activities is a critical first step towards the design of mitigation policies and actions. Here we propose and motivate a transparent framework for reporting research-related…
The AAS Strategic Plan for 2021-26 called for the creation of a task force to identify how the AAS can meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. The AAS and its membership recognize the danger climate change represents to humanity and our…
While an astronomer's job is typically to look out from Earth, the seriousness of the climate crisis has meant a shift in many astronomers' focus. Astronomers are starting to consider how our resource requirements may contribute to this…
Future accelerators and experiments for energy-frontier particle physics will be built and operated during a period in which society must also address the climate change emergency by significantly reducing emissions of carbon dioxide. The…
The proposed Carbon Investigation (Carbon-I) Imaging Spectrometer is designed to measure variations of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere. The instrument will survey the Earth from its own spacecraft at an altitude of approximately 610…
Monitoring the abundance of greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide (CO$_2$) and methane (CH$_4$) is necessary to quantify their impact on global warming and climate change. Although a number of satellites and ground-based networks…
In this report, we examine the available evidence regarding ICT's current and projected climate impacts. We examine peer-reviewed studies which estimate ICT's current share of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to be 1.8-2.8% of global…