The carbon footprint of large astronomy meetings

TL;DR

This paper compares the carbon footprints of face-to-face and virtual astronomy meetings, showing virtual meetings drastically reduce environmental impact and encouraging greener conference practices.

Contribution

It quantifies the carbon footprint difference between in-person and virtual astronomy meetings, highlighting the environmental benefits of online formats.

Findings

Virtual meetings have approximately 3,000 times lower carbon footprint than face-to-face meetings.

The study provides evidence supporting the adoption of virtual conferences for ecological sustainability.

Encourages more environmentally conscious practices in scientific conferencing.

Abstract

The annual meeting of the European Astronomical Society took place in Lyon, France, in 2019, but in 2020 it was held online only due the COVID-19 pandemic. The carbon footprint of the virtual meeting was roughly 3,000 times smaller than the face-to-face one, providing encouragement for more ecologically minded conferencing.