Nothing for free

Well, just in case you thought you were saving the world by not using phone books printed on dead trees which promote deforestation, or by doing your research online instead of going out in the field instead.

From the BBC:

US physicist Alex Wissner-Gross has conducted research into the environmental impact of “googling”.

Environmental physicists are worried about the environmental impact of information technology.

A recent study estimated the global IT sector generated as much greenhouse gas as the world’s airlines put together.

Mr Wissner-Gross’s study found a typical Google search on a desktop computer produces about 7g (0.25oz) of carbon dioxide.

If you enter another request you obviously end up with double that amount, which is the roughly the equivalent of boiling an electric kettle for a cup of tea.