Look Up: Facing the reality of Climate Change in the Digital Age

by Kyrin Sturdivant

I still remember the joy of logging in to our family computer in the early aughts (‘00s). Our tan clunky monitor weighed the room, flashing a plane of cotton-fuzz clouds that stretched east and west across our screen. Our computer was always leashed to its side, panting labored sighs of warm exhaust. Among the icons on the screen was Internet Explorer, a gateway to infinite possibilities for my older siblings, though I’d mostly find myself clicking the icon for a computer game. Here, in front of a virtual window we found ourselves immersed in the next adventure—but as we grew older, so did the earth, and the electricity from our machines sighing even more exhaust, blanketing our atmosphere in a toxic haze, and veiling the casket for all life on board.

Growing up in the digital age I didn’t know that energy use contributed to the global crisis of climate change. All I knew was that I was benefitting tremendously from innovations made by using electric power. Still, I continued finding myself logging in to more and more computers almost daily, from desktops to laptops, handheld games, and smartphones, oblivious to the harm being done. A lot of my education was assisted by the use of computers, learning from websites and documentaries accessed through the internet, and completing and turning in assignments digitally. 

It’s clear to me now why the internet is so often chosen as a medium through which to educate, but should we be educating each other on the very real threat of human-caused climate change—using the internet less, or both? Information is more easily available on the internet than by traditional means. It’s also a great aid in sharing information with a larger audience, a plethora of social movements have been cultivated online, but there are more reasons why the internet is a useful tool. The internet offers us convenience, communication through global online communities, education, entertainment, an escape. Though the greatest cost of these benefits is undoubtedly its contribution to climate change through its use of increasingly large amounts of energy.

It is now very common in the United States to have some sort of presence online. I’ve often thought to myself that getting rid of my social media profiles might render me absent from my community. How will anyone know I exist if not for social media? Many rely on the internet to access public resources, communicate with family, read the news, stay on top of the latest trends, in order to work, and for its added ease in the purchasing of items that will be delivered straight to your doorstep. It’s likely these sentiments among countless others contribute to the fact that around 3.5 billion people are now using the internet globally, nearly half of all people on earth, and all of that usage requires tons of electricity. The music video for “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi broke records for the most viewed video on the popular video streaming site, YouTube in 2018, with 5 billion views, burning as much electricity as 40,000 U.S. homes use in a year. One video burned that much electricity. Today, the most viewed video on YouTube is “Baby Shark Dance” with an astonishing 11.6 billion views. Imagine how much electricity those views produced. 

In the United States, electric power is the second largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions, behind transportation. This is due to the burning of coal and other fossil fuels which allow power plants to produce the electricity that runs our devices. All of that power produces thick dark clouds as well as excess CO2 that is dissipating into the air every day of every year. These dark clouds mix with the water vapor in our fluffy white clouds and steep them with toxic particles that create dark gray smog which traps in heat and warms our planet. This pollution is contributing to more severe storms, more acidic oceans, and killing resources that support all life on earth. 

Not a smoker? Well, you’re still breathing in harmful smoke. Dark toxic clouds in polluted air are what we’re breathing in every day. The conveniences that electricity brings adds more ease to our lives, but at what cost? Likely fewer days of our lives, as air pollution causes an increased risk of health problems. As more and more CO2 is released through the burning of fossil fuels, our planet becomes more toxic and less hospitable to us and every other living thing. The only thing that currently seems to be thriving are the wealthy executives of large corporations that are profiting off the destruction of our planet and the killing of the beautiful diversity of life that currently depend on us to save them.

According to environmental journalist David Belito, “Human society added half the global warming pollution that is in the atmosphere in just the last 40 years,” illustrating how we’ve sadly been distracted by the fruits of our industrial and technological advancement in place of the harm we’re bringing to the environment.

Luckily, burning fossil fuel and harming the planet isn’t the only option we have for using electricity and the internet to our heart’s content. Yes, you can still enjoy your guilty pleasure binge-watches, and late-night texts in your group chats. New ways of harboring energy through natural means are emerging and are here for the taking, wind, solar, and hydropower with little to no harmful emissions, all we have to do is start implementing them in place of our current means. But of course, there is resistance from those very few who claim to lose the most from this change. Yeah, cash maybe. What about our lives?

The oil and fossil fuel industry executives don’t want us electing leaders that will implement clean energy, or us demanding that the places where we buy our goods switch to using clean energy, lest we take our hard-earned money to those who will. But I’m sorry, the lives of every living thing on the planet today and in the future are vastly more important than the quick short-term profits that the execs are making off our misery. 

You matter. The trees and the birds, the fish, and the baby kangaroos, they matter too. We   should all be doing what we can to preserve the earth, not only for us but for future generations. Why should they suffer for our fleeting days of luxury? We can all share the fruits of our advances together through more sustainable means. That’s a win-win for us and the earth.

And it’s already begun, governments and commercial establishments are starting to hear the pleas of concerned scientists and citizens. Just this year the United States passed The Inflation Reduction Act, which will bring more funding to clean energy initiatives. Although this is notably a big step in the right direction on the part of the U.S. government taking action towards mitigating climate change, the investment still falls short when taking into account the actions already taken by other countries such as France, Italy, and South Korea. “The United States is still where the European Union was a decade ago,” according to energy researcher, Michael Pahle, which says a lot about where one of the wealthiest countries in the world appears to stand on climate action. 

In the corporate world, 376 companies have joined The Climate Pledge initiative founded by Amazon and Global Operative, pledging to make their businesses’ total carbon emissions net zero by the year 2040. We’ll see if they hold up on their promise. Until then, it is in all of our best interests to continue holding corporations, industries, and political leaders accountable, with your voice, where you spend your money, and your vote. Use the internet to educate on the issue of climate change by doing your own research, form and join communities that are trying to make a difference, because our power lies offline too. These make up the most powerful leverage that we have as citizens and consumers to mitigate climate change. It’s these actors’ massive hold of industry and public influence that supports the large amounts of pollutants being released and that is disturbing the natural world.

Maybe it’s time we try to take a more active role in saving our planet, look up from our screens, and out into the beautiful world that surrounds and nurtures us. Maybe we should try our best to nurture it. Hopefully, our governments and the industry execs see the value of preserving our planet, hear the pleas of concerned humanity and continue their strides toward using cleaner and more sustainable forms of energy. The cloud-filled sky once called to me from a screen. I hope that it hears our calls to save it from being cloaked of its wonder behind a screen of dark smoke.

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© Kyrin Sturdivant 2022, All Rights Reserved.