An article in the Globe and Mail features a number of scholars discussing how they might curtail plane travel to meetings and events in order to reduce the negative impact of such travel on the environment. It turns out the such travel contributes a surprising level of emissions with a study at the University of British Columbia finding that the travel of UBC employees contributes from two-thirds to three-quarters of the emissions generated by all the buildings on the UBC campus.
While some of us don’t need more reasons to avoid plane travel, for others reducing such travel will represent a major change in patterns of scholarly interaction. Let’s hope that online interaction will fill some of the communication gap created by reduced travel.
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