How can people still be so ignorant as to ignore and deny climate change? The facts are staring us in the face....

This really will be the Age of Stupid

Lauren, Edinburgh,

Soylent Green is made from PEOPLE!

Bill, Atlanta, USA

I think the solution lies in generating the power required for internet activity in a sustainable way. In the mean time, curbing excessive and wholly unnecessary usage presents a huge energy conservation opportunity.

David Mackenzie, Costa Mesa, California, USA

"Rotting leaves in the autumn produce more carbon dioxide than that of the whole human population in one year. Surely everyone is aware that global warming is a myth."

is this true? where can I confirm this?

Brent, Mountain View, Hawaii

Is it a myth Gemma? We can see everyday the weather changes. But the worst of all is our changes. Human of today became lazy and indifferent. Financial crisis is in relation with energy crisis and finaly with human life crisis. We have to remember an ancient greek maxim: "best measure of everything"

Dimitris, Thessaloniki, Hellas

There's website that is as effective as Google and Yahoo: ecocho.com. Each time 1000 researches are done, 2 trees are planted. Not much? 6669 have already been planted and the website is still unknown! Think about it! I prefer to be poor and healthy than rich and sick.

M-C, QC, Canada

Phew, what a lot of hot air from America! Quite surprising that you mostly claim climate change is a figment of imagination. Maybe you will 'see the light' in due course.

FWIW, I don't drive (no car, nor need of one) and don't touch Google - there are better search tools without adverts.

Peter, near Liverpool, UK

Who cares! Rotting leaves in the autumn produce more carbon dioxide than that of the whole human population in one year. Surely everyone is aware that global warming is a myth.

More important things to worry about... hmmm... GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS!

Gemma, Worcestershire,

I can give up on plastic carrier bags. I can turn the heating down and put on a jumper. I will even spend a little more and buy fair trade chocolate. But please don't tell me I need to stop using google ...

Amy, Joetsu, Japan

The goverment says we should buy low carbon emission cars but yet the goverment are still not recycling our recycled goods, so each household are wasting their time as our recycled goods still land in wasteland! Lets not jump on Google before we jump on the real issues first and fix them.

Tammy, London,

And just how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

This is taking 'green' theology to new levels of absurdity.

Brian Vallance, Corfu, Greece

I'm not sure it's correct to divide google's total energy use by the number of searches. Google cpu's do more than searches. Their ads probably cost more carbon than searches.

kfield, Fair Oaks, USA

Why the assumption that you have to get in a car to go to the library? Walking is much more fun and keeps you from getting fat. If you are so car-addicted that you won't consider walking as an option (or live in a pedestrian-unfriendly environment), that's something to work on changing!

Elizabeth Minnow, Oakland, USA

I think tehere's an objection seeing that 1000 Kilojoules per hour does cost aproximately 15 dollar cents (1 MW/Hour), then a few searches could cost google more than a dollar (perhaps 100 searches).
Then Even Bernard Madof could not make desapear such amount of money per hour as google does.

Juan Diego Cruz, Sevilla, Spain

And of course we should compare the environmental impact of performing the same search at your local public library.

First, start your car... D'oh!

Michael Wendell, Morgantown, WV, USA

So, how does that compare to the environmental impact of printing enough books to offset the online searches? Books people would either have to drive to the store to buy or to the library to check out? Dead trees, paper processing emissions, and carbon monoxide from auto exhaust.

Dave, Aurora, Missouri, USA

For what its worth (on the 14th of Jan), Darren Ward below is wrong.

The watt is a unit of power ( i.e. the RATE of energy consumption).

1 watt = 1 joule per second.

A 1600W kettle running for 1 minute would use 96 kilojoules of energy.

Mark, Kirkcaldy, Scotland, UK

"Newcombe warns: the boom in such services has a carbon cost. "

.... so does breathing.

Joel B, Mission Viejo, CA

Does this research take into account the source of energy, i.e. coal, hydroelectric. It would seem that power derived from Hydro would have a smaller carbon footprint

Steve Hair, East Wenatchee, USA

Excellent argument for parents to confiscate the kids' PCs and kick them outside to play.

jeanne, DC, USA

That does it! I'm going to use the Yahoo search engine from now. :-)

jayil, london, uk

Google's machines have to be switched on whether 10 users are making queries or 10 million. So the more queries you make might make the energy use more efficient?
The co2 cost of getting your info from another source, or doing without the info, or using poor out of date info?

Ewan Lamont, Edinburgh, UK

you think Google is bad? printing one page in a news paper generates 14.8g co2. the new york times produces 270KG Co2 per year PER PERSON.

you want to improve our climate stop printing papers and move to entirly electronic.

nemo, elbonia,

Google RMI and feel good about it, because they consult with them on facility construction...

TJ, seattle,

If you go out into the woods and just sit still until you die, your body will give off C02 and you will bring on global warming because your dead body will give off C02

davo, Shelbyville, USA

Being a datacenter administrator for a large website company, I can tell you that the author of this article has NO idea how datacenters are designed. Resources cost serious money so we spend millions in efficient power and cooling. If you don't like the internet then don't use it.

Michael, Phoenix, USA

Funny that no one has mentioned that the Google HQ in Mountain View is 30% solar powered. In fact I believe they have the biggest corporate solar power plant in the US. http://www.google.com/corporate/green/footprint.html

Khendar, Adelaide,

One commenter says: "More CO2 than aviation is a lot of CO2!" Say what? All of the CO2 in the world heaped up in one pile is still not a lot of anything. Googling the numbers shows that the entire atmosphere is 0.038% carbon dioxide. Is it possible that all this hysteria is just a huge hoax?

Larsen E Whipsnade, Vancouver, Canada

Well I guess I should go back to living in a stone hut on the moor. And when I wanted to lean something I would have to go to a monastery and request a scribe scroll out a book for me to read. These people want all of us to go back to a hand to mouth existence as hunter gatherers.

Paul Bahre, Granby CT, USA

"should demand Google buy power from zero-carbon sources like tidal or wind energy"
I think google is leading the way in alternative energy....
Google intends to spend at least $20 million next year GOOGLE..google alternative energy for more

T. Sheldon, troutdale, usa

What is the carbon footprint of performing a search the old fashioned way? I suspect stocking every library with books of Thomas Register's and Yellow Pages etc...along with the energy spent looking through all those pieces of paper is less green then an online search of the world!

Jon, Houston, USA

If as much research that went into this study was done by the "scientists" that connect CO2 to global warming, we wouldn't be discussing this in the first place. More CO2 makes plants healthier. Conclusion: Google searches make the planet greener. - Think about that!

John Anderson, Cleveland, OH, USA

These alarmist are nuts! I wonder what they worried about before the earth started getting warmer.... You know? You know the time when Clinton and Gore were in the white house? That utopia we call the 90's. Get a real cause! Maybe our economy?

Ben, Tulsa,

"Seriously, could any of you live without Google? Not me. Is what it is. This is laughable."

Um, yes, Jacque. In fact, I lived quite well without them for the first 25 years of my life.

Eric, Houston, USA

There is an energy cost for using computing power of Google's search engine, whether distributed or not. Good to know. We should demand Google buy power from zero-carbon sources like tidal or wind energy. This demand should be no different for any other entity. Knowledge is carbon-free power.

Robert Gandy, Ossineke, MI, USA

"Climate Change" is NOT the biggest threat to everything we hold dear. The threat is in governments buying into the climate change lie and imposing taxes on individuals and corporations based on the lie that human activity and industry is negatively affecting our environment.

jeff, rocket city, USA

G Perez, we could all just stop breathing, period. That would reduce our carbon footprint even more!

Jason, Seatte,

I read the Pravda article on the "coming ice age". It wasn't the usual tabloid trash I've come to expect, but one caveat applies: the next glaciation is expected to begin at any time from 8000 years ago (masked by AGW) to tens of thousands of years in the future--or even never.

Brant, Ottawa, Canada

Spot on, Jeff. Why do so many people get so DEFENSIVE when the issue of climate change is raised? And why are so many prepared to take the chance when climate change is potentially the biggest threat to everything we hold dear?

So many ill-informed opinions. You're all willing to take the risk?

John McCallum, Aberdeen, Scotland

How much CO2 produced by breathing? About 1kg a day; 365kg a year; about 42g/hr; or a half hour Google search over a pot of tea. Running your computer off a bicycle dynamo might not be as good an idea as you'd think, but don't sweat the small stuff.

Brant, Ottawa, Canada

I find it amazing that people commenting here feel so threatened by these ideas. What's wrong with simply knowing the costs of what you do? I didn't think this article implied that we should not have IT, but awareness can help us make it more efficient.
Few things in life are free.

Jeff, Pittsburgh, USA

Where will 300M Brits and Europeans go when the arctic ice cap extends to the Italian Alps with the advent of the next ice age. Better hope it stays warm.

Very speculative science this global warming. Global hysteria is more accurate.

Damn cold outside, not much different than 50 years ago.

Bruce , Winnipeg, Canada

And how much CO2 is produced by breathing? Maybe we should all stop exercising as to reduce our carbon footprint.

G Perez, Miami, FL,

Interesting article and good journalism, not something I had thought about before. For people to make informed decisions, they must first be informed. Articles like this help to fill in the gaps, and those who react defensively miss the point completely.

Tim, Chicago, USA

Good news as we approach Green nirvana. However, we should be comparing google searches to the lack of it when it comes to energy usage. I mean if I were to buy a mobile phone and not use google, I would use the road which by no means is closer in comparision.

Madhu Dharmarajan, Nottingham, UK

I am of the opinion that the earth is big enough to take care of it's self. The earth's crust is constantly churning, taking material down to be remelted and bring up new material via volcanoes and rifts. Every once in a while a huge meteorite hits the surface to stir things up even more.

Mike A, Baraboo, USA

Dear God, I pray, the upcoming grand minima will finally put an end to this kind of psychotic pseudoscience. I think I'll google "Global Cooling" to get advice on how to prepare....

layne , seattle, USA

Look at it this way....think about how much the internet and google has reduced the CO2....If everyone was driving to the libraries to look this stuff up....the CO2 generated by all those multiple trips by auto would certainly be much higher....calculate those saving that google has provided

Bob, Massachusetts, USA

TRUST ME when I tell you Google is leaving is Bigfoot sized carbon footprint.

Matt, Winchester, TN, USA

You've got to be kidding me.

The good news is that interest in this whole man-made global warming fallacy is slowly dying like the hula-hoop and the Atkins Diet. I admit, this fad had a good run. Time for us to embrace another silly crisis so somebody somewhere can profit from it.

Google On!

Rich, Plattsburgh, USA

I guess we just have to go back to the stone age. I'm sorry but I believe in human ingenuity. I want a 500 horsepower engine that runs on clean fuel and gets 100 miles to the gallon. These guys want to go back to the horse and buggy.

Dan, tampa, USA

I don't believe the stats make any sense. Searching can be quite data intensive but there are over 1000 unique google users per google server, basic math tells us google is therefore a fraction of the Co2 of actually owning and using (and re-buying) a PC, even if most computers are not on 24/7.

justin, new york, USA

Adam, if your kettle uses 2000 watts to boil water for a cup of coffee, then I'd seriously consider changing it!!

My kettle is rated at 1600 watts. That's watts per hour, not per boil. Average boil time is about 1 minute.

You do the maths.

Darren Ward, Manchester, UK

Thanks to Jonathan Leake and Richard Woods for this nice
stuff. Apart from the thing that we see and know, many activities of ours have direct on indirect impact upon the environment.Each and every individual become aware of the adverse impacts caused due to their activities and try to lessen them.

Bijay Raj Bagale, Kathmandu, Nepal

I'm surprised, ineffeciency of a Google search & that boiling a kettle use LESS energy! That's incredible. It takes what? 40 seconds to boil a jug at 240 Volts DC and how ever many watts! Say 2000 Watts, Google search is 1 sec or less! So it should be per second and kettle would be say 0.375g a sec!

Adam Giovane, Perth, Australia

Man made global warming is a political tactic to try & force us to cut our energy consumption & tax us on it. Assuming it was reality, CO2 is to plants as O2 is to us. Food sources grow better in warmer climates than in frigid ones. So wouldn't it be in our interest to emit CO2 and produce more food

John, Houston,

According to some quick math and some carbon footprint numbers I pulled up, Google's footprint is about equal to 280 cars per year. Saying they're having an environmental impact is pushing it, considering that China put 178,082 new cars on the road PER DAY in 2006.

Jay, Annandale,

Seriously, could any of you live without Google? Not me. Is what it is. This is laughable.

Jacque, Phoenix, USA

I'm sure all the plant life on the planet appreciates the CO2 & we appreciate it when they convert it into o2!! Appreciate & enjoy nature, don't try to control it!

Joe, Philadelphia , USA

You're right Mary from OK City - if only there were no more humans on the planet, it would be perfect. Barring that, let's ban SUVs, Plasma TVs, airlines, computers, trucks, ocean going vessels, etc. Can't burn wood for warmth, can't drill for gas or oil. No nuclear for electricity.

Doug, Downingtown, USA

It should be mentioned that the internet also saves on fossil fuels by replacing video-conferencing with travel and internet orders with local ones

Jeff, Williamsburg,

Sure, Google may generate 7g per search, but what about all of the other search engines? Maybe Google is the most enviromentally friendly search engine!

Steven, Sunnyvale, United States

True, Doger, and solid state tech will vastly reduce the amount of energy consumed by comps soon enough.

Seth, nyc,

Is anyone else beginning to see a pattern of paranoia among the academic elite?

Ragnar, New Hampshire, USA

Move the data centers up north and put them in the basements of tall building and USE that waste heat!
This was done in the old days of huge tube-based computers.

Jan, Austin, USA

Well, it is clear to me now that the only way to save this planet, is through the total annihilation of human beings, and let the planet repair it self and go back to nature. Then the environmentalists will all be happy.

Mary, OKLAHOMA CITY, USA

Hopefully no one took the content of this article seriousely. Man induced global warming is a scam. In San Francisco officials are trying limit how many people can BBQ or have a fire indoors. It's all so absurd. The media calls it climate change now...not global warming.

Grant, Tucson, USA

Total nonsense. The environmental savings from using Google far outway any minimal energy usage for a computer search. How much gas did you use to use going to several stores trying to find the best deal. Now you can just compare on line and save the gas. Google is a net plus for the environment

Doger, Dallas, USA

So you're saying that we shouldn't boil our tea?

Steve, Los Angeles, USA

Just makes me want to Google more!!!

Jenny, Chicago, USA

Very misleading.

It is the infrastructure required to be in place to allow for searching that uses energy - not the action of searching itself.

Also, the direct comparison to aeroplane emissions is on perilous ground since planes are direct generators of Co2.

Search engine usage is not careless.

Philip Orr, Glasgow,

Scientists have recently discovered that the average man produces a carbon footprint of over 120 tons in his lifetime. Isn't it about time we did something about people going out and producing more and more people. It's the least we could do for Mother Earth.

Peter, London, UK

Come on, guys.

Just chill out. The article is only estimating the energy usage of computer usage, and google in particular. It is known that CO2 is a greenhouse gas, and adding such gasses to the atmosphere increases the incidence of global warming. Why would you get angry?

Dana, La Jolla, USA

it will help slow down the coming ice-age

Greg, Moorestown, us

Calendar change... Scheduling Global Warming from 2PM to 3PM... Giving consideration to Next Ice Age from 3PM to 4PM. From 4Pm and after working on increasing my carbon footprint. Sorry, I no longer believe any of this stuff. Next theory please step up for your 15 minutes in the spotlight.

Eddie, Suffolk, USA

Just another sell out who wants regulation for market a monopoly. Baw - what's ethics & fraud got to do with it any way?

Dr. Wissner-Gross' startup company, Enernetics, Inc., has become the world's largest environmental certifier of websites and the world's largest green search provider.

Ms. Rock, Merlin, united States

Everyone, quickly! Turn everything off. Touch nothing. Use nothing. Starting with Alex Wissner-Gross, Albert Gore, and everyone left-leaning. The rest of us might join ya.

Kevin Gleeson, Lyons, IL, United States

visiting the timesonline.co.uk website generates even more carbon dioxide; and hot air. Please sit on the ground and be very still so we can save the earth

tom, baton rouge, usa

Alex Wissner-Gross better concentrate on the forest floor, especially in the Amazon rain forest. Think of all the rotting matter producing tons of CO2. I guess the flora (plants, trees, etc.) there just don't use it fast enough to make the O2 that the fauna needs to survive.

Awkins, Johnson City, NY, USA

I was just reading about the "ICE AGE" we are headed into as the fools who are pushing for new taxes based on junk science called Global Warming continue to spread nonsenseical ideas. The US Army said 64% of what some call "Warming" is caused by ta normal SUN cycle. Get a grip and a good warm Coat.

Dave Mitchell, Cabazon , USA

Lets blame the U.S for all the worlds problems? No its all bout transferring America's wealth to the rest of the world via the UN! Man made global warming is a joke.

Tim, St. Paul,

How much CO is emited in a "beer fart"? If more than beathing, we must stop making beer!

Pedro Gomez, Washington, DC, USA

I am surprised how aggressiv the comments from the U.S. are. It is written in the article that to use google in stead of driving to the library makes sense no? The scientific consensus is quite clear about global warming and a cold winter does not affect the fact that it will be warmer in 20 years!

Bernd, Berlin, Germany

Are people genuinely so dense as to believe that we are responsible for 'global warming'? People are so full of themselves - thinking that their actions have such large effects! Never mind that it's a cycle - like everything in nature. How many ice ages have we had? Did we cause them as well?

Ed Davies, Brecon,

Scientists have recently discovered that the average man produces a carbon footprint of over 120 tons in his lifetime. Isn't about time we did something about people going out and producing more and more people. It's the least we could do for Mother Earth.

Peter, London, UK

Typical slight of hand news story. Keep the populace focused on the right hand so they can’t see the trick in your left hand. The alternatives are either not to search at all, or drive to the library. Not to mention the other places you’d drive if you couldn’t order on line. Drive to the music store

Bobby, Carrollton, TX, USA

I have taken the time, sad I know, to calculate this in real terms. If each search generates 7g of CO2 emissions, and there are 200m searches daily - this means Google alone produces the same amount of Carbon Dioxides as driving a 5.2 Litre Lamborghini Gallardo to the moon and back 9.5 times a day!

Nick, Cardiff, Wales

Now read the latest in-depth report in Pravda.
Looks like we are headed--not for more warming--but for the next Ice Age.
The science here is pretty impressive, whereas much of the Global Warming stuff is...well sometimes a lot of "hot air".
Tom, USA

Thomas Melanson, Old Saybrook, USA

When does this global warming hysteria end. It seems like all these die-hard environmentalists would like us all living in huts with no electricity, comforts, or heating. Especially considering this freezing winter (against all predictions), I'd like to see them go first

Chris Walker, London,

This is a joke right? No? You folks are serious ?

Individual freedom and liberty are in a much more perilous state than I thought.

I'm going to set my computer on an automatic random Google search and let it fly while I go out and boil up some water to fill my swimming pool with hot tea.

Kenny Solomon, South Florida, USA

By the way China recently passed the United States as the larges emitter of "greenhouse gases".

Jacob Gasburner, Camarillo, USA

This is nothing but those control freaks on the left laying the groundwork to control and tax the internet and "save the planet.

Climate clange lies are the modern version of the Trojan Horse. We get what's left when the horse walks away!

Don L, Harford, USA

Wow, so much hate from the US...! The article *does, too*, mention that if internet use replaces more energy-intensive activities, then that's obviously good. But if servers and websites could be made a bit more environmentally friendly, then why not try it? More CO2 than aviation is a lot of CO2!

Hille Frost, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Like a mouse climbing up the leg of an elephant with rape on its mind. Global warming at/isn't going to happen.

Who do I call to post fiction/opion on the net and call it fact? AND GET PAID TO DO IT!

teddy, dublin,

Unless Google builds its own data centers from the ground up, this article makes no sense. A typical data center serves dozens of customers in separate spaces in the facility. The power will be consumed by the data center whether or not Google is in it.

Bob R, Los Angeles,

It looks like all those Brits are holding in their carbon dioxide and its making their brains a little mushy. Not to mention what not taking in oxygen does to the body. Global warming is nothing but a hoax believed like a phony religion.

Joseph S. , New York , USA

So much abuse from American readers trying to fight science with ignorance. Do join the rest of us in C21.

Ray, London, UK

I think the data is bogus. The Google search page only takes a few hundred milliseconds to render, and many Google datacenters use hydropower, apparently not accounted for by Prof. Wissner-Gross. Penalizing websites for the inefficiencies of their users is unfair.

George McKee, Cypress, USA

Al Gore is on the board of Google. FUNNY!

Brian Olaon, New York, USA

Trees and plants live on carbon dioxide, so the more we search, the more we;re helping the planet- Trees and plants give off oxygen, which WE needm so KEEP ON SURFIN'!

Rusty, Dayton, USA

People,
Please think of Mother Gaia

Use Dogpile to search, it queries multiple search engines.

I am stuck at home with 8 inches of AGW on my driveway and cars, still wondering how warming is bad and cooling is good.

Nosmo, Harrisville PA, USA

All of the comments here read like they were written by the same person.

JM Freeh, Nashua, USA

where does this all end? I will tell you, back in caves and huts with all of us gathering our essential, organic needs from mother nature who will provide all things good to each of us. Eden is right around the corner, embrace the "change".

Jason, Savannah, USA

Funny how most of these comments come from the USA...the world's biggest CO2 emitters. The Kyoto protocol...oh wait...they didnt ratify it!Leave other countries to clean up their mess

So ladies and gentlemen, go outside and watch the disastrous consequences that human activity has on the planet

Jeanne, London, UK

Funny how most comments come from the USA...being the biggest CO2 emitters in the world...and the Kyoto protocol...oh wait....we didn't sign it! So before posting these comments ladies and gentlemen, open your eyes,look around you and observe how human activity is slowly destroying the planet!

Jeanne, London, UK

It's obvious the waste must cease. No more tea drinking.

R. William, Aguila,

What about going for a run in the morning? Or going hillwalking or cycling. That also produces CO2. Are we going to be told to stop that as well? Its a similar scenario.

James, Leeds, UK

Interesting to see the number of anti-green comments from the US. Understand that in the rest of the world we have quickly understood that the more like the US a country is, the more trouble we are all in as a global society, economy and culture.

Lee, stavanger, Norway

I will strive to do as many Google searches every day that I can to make sure we don't die from "Global Cooling".

Can the GW hysteria get any more insane?

Gary Pate, Del Mar, CA , USA

So, boiling a pot of water only generates the same amount of carbon dioxide as TWO Google searches? I never dreamed it was that little an amount. I won't feel guilty anymore about my stove! Thanks for the info!

Mike, Lansing,

I call for a moratorium on publishing articles like this one. The amount of CO2 generated when my head starts to steam is much higher than a Google search. Multiply that by the millions of sane people who agree with me that GW is a crock and GW might actually come true.

John Scott, Atlanta, USA

I see this basic research as laying the groundwork for metering and eventual censoring internet traffic by the environmental "authorities". Can't have too much of that free thought or speech zipping around the 'net can we? Very bad carbon footprint eh? Can't have all that criticism.......

David, chilmark, usa

Once upon a saner time we referred to people like this as the lunatic fringe. Now it seems the lunatics are running the assylum.

Tim G., Cuyahoga Falls, USA

Per the greenies request - should I stop Googling and just drive the 16 miles roundtrip to the nearest library every time I need a question answered?

Dan Eastwood, South Lyon, United States

Mmmm, just makes we want to Google all the more. The absurdity to which "scientists" have fallen is simply astounding. One wonders just how many more years of this nonsense we will have to endure before the world realizes we've been entertaining one of the greatest non-scientific hoaxes in history

John Truly, Waxahachie , USA

I wonder how much carbon a regulatory agency monitoring carbon use produces? Just imagine how much carbon would be kept out of the atmosphere if leftist enviro-nuts would all sit still and hold their breath and stop bothering the rest of us!

James, New Jersey, USA

I googled this article. Now I see I am going to have to up my googling. Maybe that will warm things up a bit.

Michael W, Fairbanks, AL,

The calculations are ridiculous and blatantly misleading.
But no surprise, it appears that this will be another cold year and the "environmentalists" are running up and down in a total panic that they failed to fully socialize the world while for a few years was a bit warmer.

Gabor, Somewhere, USA

I totally agree, we must revert to earlier times every one heated with wood and used whale oil for their lamps. over 4 billion people cutting wood for fuel and killing the last whale herds how long before the Greenies cry we must stop living period. If that is their goal let them show the way.

joe, Farmington, USA

When I was younger, we always joked about how long it would be before they started taxing air. Looks like we're about to find out. These are CO2 emissions you're all talking about, the same thing we exhale. If you want to reduce CO2 emissions, then just stop breathing please.

Mike, HotAir, CA,

Good thing I read this article. Next time I want to find some info, I'll drive my SUV to the library instead of Googling. I wonder how many cups of tea I can make with that wasted energy?

Next thing you know breathing will be bad for the environment. I mean we do expel CO2, don't we?

Ramon, Richmond, USA

These nutheads are only days away from taking over. God help us all

Texas Pete, senoia, USA

And why should we care how much energy Google uses...because of the myth of Global Warming that is being forced down our throats.
2007 was the warmest year on record, no wait, we were wrong about that, the warmest year was 1945.
Artic sea ice will be gone soon, no wait, we were wrong about that 2

luke, boston,

Thank goodness there is nothing to the whole carbon issue to start with. This just keeps nervous folk from pondering their navels and the neighbor's cat.

Steve Austin, Hopkinsville, USA

Don't buy into the Al Gore religion of "carbon footprints." It pretends that Carbon Dioxide is a pollutant, as if its poison gas. Instead, it is necessary ingredient to the survival of all plant life, just as oxygen is necessary to all animals. Thus all criticism of creating CO2 is pure garbage.

Jim Whitehead, Williamsburg, VA

This guy should realize of course that in merely exhaling, he is releasing CO2 into atmosphere. When he gets worked up over Google searches that amount probably triples.

John, Bel Air, MD, USA

Mantra words: global warming and carbon foot print, how about the size of my foot print I'd like to leave in the rear of all this tree hugging yuppies who have nothing better to do. I will run a few more servers and increase my google searches and let my Chevy Tahoe idle in the garage all day!

Andrew, New Britain, US

Excellent!!! I'll perform more google searches from now on! It's so cold here in Dayton, I could use a little more "global warming". Thanks for the suggestion!

Dave, Dayton, USA!

Why not just say it? If there were no human beings alive, the Earth would be in great shape. The act of living is an act of consumption. Think how much C02 would be limited if people would kill themselves! Aren't we sick of al this anti-civilization nonsense? Let's give C02 credits to murderers

Tom, Chicago,

The good that comes from an article like this is that it reminds the rest of us how anyone can argue a case for Global Warming based on absolutely nothing. Wissner-Gross and his ilk represent total wastes of carbon. Perhaps they should stop using the web and start using a stylus and a clay tablet?

Dave, Porterville, USA

Ha ha Lefties at Google! Now YOU know what it's like to face stupid environmentalist wackos and their crazy accusations. And why WON'T Google tell us their carbon footprint and energy consumption? Is it because they use more each day than a small city? BTW, anyone notice how cold it has been lately?

winkle, NY, USA

This whole movement has more to do with government being more and more involved in our lives. This is all junk science, where have the real scientist gone?

Mike , Queen Creek, AZ, USA

I can't wait until 50 years from now, when I am 81, and all of this junk science has been shown to be what it really is.

Kit, Tokyo, Japan

Every time you breathe, you emit roughly 0.12 grams of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. So every 2 minutes a person releases 7.2 grams of CO2 just by breathing (the same amount of earthly terror as a Google search. Anyone who believes this deeply about global warming should hold their breath.

R. Macheel, Bloomington,

In a free enterprise like Google, they will find the least expensive way to run their equipment. It is for their own good as well as ours.

Ric Trexell, Berlin, WI USA

The earth is NOT WARMING. It is COOLING ! We are at risk of another ICE AGE We need MORE CO2, Not less. Therefore, we need to burn more coal, and more oil.

Franque Aldridge, Lithia Springs GA, USA

C'mon carbon emission from google searches? I wonder how much money went to that study. I feel the urge to do something environmentaly destructive, think i'll mow my grass.

Don, Vienna, Va

All the massive deposits of coal and oil we have on the planet are due to CO2 being taken from the atmosphere and being converted-so there must have been loads of the stuff in the atmosphere during these times but these life-forms (trees, ferns and sea animals) obviously thrived as did others.

Larry Homshaw, Durham.,

Compare the cost of a google search with the carbon cost of a 100 page newspaper. I may read 10 pages then throw it away. Lets see: cut down tree taking it out of the C02 fixing cycle tree to mill, printers my house, then recycled. Electronics has a much smaller footprint.

John Elliott, Portland, Oregon

This research does not consider how much energy would be used in alternative approaches to obtaining the same information--such as driving to the library, driving to a bookstore and buying a book, etc. Not being able to Google search and using an alternative approach could INCREASE energy use.

G. Taylor, Tampa, USA

I am so sick of being made to feel guilty for breathing. Has anyone in the northern hemisphere bothered to check outside...there is no global warming!!! Forget about it and think about more important things that are affecting our lives.

Marina Nell, Teton Valley, Idaho, USA

When will the public wise up to the enviro nuts? They want to tax cow farts. Oregon wants to track cars via GPS and tax per mile. NY, Mass, Conn., etc are taxing power plant emmissions. The UN's Global Poverty Initiative will tax our carbon emmissions and distribute the $$ to poor countries. Arrgh!

Arnie Petralia, rochester, ny, usa

Carbon footprint my foot. For heaven's sake, the world is made of carbon, and all its trees. The bubbles in your ale, mate. A physicist wants us to feel guilty for breathing, and encourages government to tax us for it! This is medieval hysteria gussied up as latter-day pseudo-science.

Dernon Ruton, New York, USA

It has nothing to do about anything other than another way to tax us. People had better wake up.

Arnie Petralia, rochester, ny, usa

Very Soon the environmentalists will realize we exhale Co2 when we breathe and methane when we pass gas. maybe they'll try to tax that too.

Chris, Levittown, USA

I'll spend an hour a day for the next year googling to combat global cooling. I wonder how much co2 he created completing his study?

JimH, Houston, USA

Aren't we CARBON BASED LIFE FORMS? Global Warming is self hatred and could prove to be suicidal as well.

Richard Z, Woodbridge, NJ, USA

What is the carbon footprint in googling Al Gores carbon footprint?

Greg Lang , Minneapolis, MN , USA

Right now it very cold outside. I would love to have some global warming about now, so guess it is time to start searching Google ! If this crackpot scientist wants to make a headline, he should issue a global cooling warning.

Dan, Houston, Texas

This means we should use google as much as possible. generate enough power to light a small city. Stupidity abounds. Why not pressure Al Gore on his footprint. His multiple mansions, and his jet hopping. As Forest Gumps momma always said.. "Stupid is as stupid does".

Scott K, EL PASO,

Pleased to see that Google is contributing to the needed supply of atmospheric fertilizer if they are , in fact, adding CO2.

Maury Siskel, Ft. Worth,

HOw beautiful. And did you know that a tractor generates more carbon than a horse, and a horse more than a man. Think of the carbon foot print we'll save by having a farmer draw his own farm tools. We can reduce that further by eating dead animals and not producing those deadly carbohydrates. Egad.

Charles Husson, Newport News, Va., USA

We're having the coldest, snowiest friggin winter since the 70's here ..... quite obviously, I haven't been doing enough Google searches .....

Curt, USA,

Since Al Gore invented the internet, I blame him.

Robert, Brampton, Canada

This does not show internet benefits.
Don't have to drive 15 miles to a library and back to do research. Information is available that one couldn't even get at their library.
How many trees and energy saved by viewing a newpaper online? Can order stuff online instead of driving. And on and on.

DM, Mytown, USA

How much CO2 is produced by exhaling? Maybe we'll be okay if everyone just holds their breath....The European obsession with X amount of grams of CO2 for Y action is annoying and laughable. Most everything on this planet is carbon based.

Forrest Hodge, Richmond, VA, USA

We were ALL SO STUPID to listen for even a MICROSECOND, that CO2 (which trees NEED to survive) is bad for the environment. The world has been cooling for 10 years... and STILL these jerks keep messing with us, digging into our pockets.

Everyone needs to wake up. Carbon is a GOOD thing.

mike, windsor, USA

Mr. Wissner-Gross obviously has not properly defined the term " carbon footprint" as we know it here in Texas. It involves a sturdy pair of cowboy boots and a portion of his anatomy which is impolite to mention online. Armed with this information, he will cease being a twit and leave us alone.

C J Hunter, Kemah, TEXAS

Isn't it ironic that Al Gore invented the Internet?

LWG, Apalachin, NY, USA

They are moving towards rationing energy, folks.

Roger Fishwife, Austin,

Pointless stats when the upside is not mentioned for the offset i.e. emails replacing paper and petrol to deliver the paper, home working, physical music media sales drops, etc. etc.

Mark, London, UK

And one breath produces about 1g of CO2 (thanks Google!), so let's all take a lot fewer breaths!

Jon , Tacoma, USA

Do people really still believe in global warming? It's got to be a little harder than...say... 2005.

Record snowfall in Hawaii and Las Vegas...

Vince, Portland,

Yeah and you probobly left 100 times that amount breathing just to write this article. Get real everybody, vegitation thrives on Carbon Dioxide and it in turn replenishes with Oxygen. Carbon footprint my ...!

Don, Fresno, USA

O.K. that does it. Tomorrow I am going to starting walking to the polar ice caps. When I get there I am going to swim out to the ice packs if there any left. Once on the ice pack, I am going to find a starving polar bear and sacrifice my life so she can live....

Paul Warn, Lansing,IL, USA

6 CO2(g) + 12 H2O(l) + photons → C6H12O6(aq) + 6 O2(g) + 6 H2O(l)

billd, Williamsburg, USA

Averages are near useless as the basis for intelligent decisions about anything. The devil is always in the detail and the individual circumstances. Furthermore it is far from clear whether the "carbon cost" is a real cost at all.

Alan Wilkinson, Russell, NZ

More crappy news. Are the politicians going to tax Google searches now? When will this craziness end?

Lee Anthony Nieves, Charlotte, NC, United States

So, Alex Wissner-Gross, “says that performing two Google search uses up as much energy as boiling the kettle for a cup of tea” and your point is...? Furthermore, who cares? You obviously have too much idle time; but criticizing `Google' is one way of achieving instant notoriety!

Tommy Richards, Front Royal, USA

Only the radical left effeminates could POSSIBLY still believe in MMGW after the clear cooling trend happening on Earth. We should be subsidizing carbon usage to prevent global cooling.

Freemon Sandlewould, Phoenix, usa

Did Wissner-Gross calculate this with an abacus and write up his report with a pencil and paper? Thought not.

Tony, Islington, London, UK

yet again people with too much time on their hands and looking for a way to get their names in print while dictating to the rest of us how to live. Where is the investigative reporting on this? Stop giving credibility to these people- as for another opinion.

darren Thomas, los angeles, usa

What a bunch of baloney!! I plan to triple my searches now. I am so sick and tired of the environmental wackos. They have to keep making crap up just to stay in the news. What a joke. Oh yeah, The global ice pack was just found to be the same as it was in 1979. Hurry up and make something up!!

David, Midland, TX,

Thanks for letting me know! I just intentionally made 15 Google searches for no reason! P.S. Global warming is a freakin' hoax!

Jay, Omaha, USA

Nanny strikes again. Just imagine how much energy we would save if all the PCs in the world were scrapped and we all worked in the fields from dawn to dusk using only horses. The fact is that more and more global energy, both in absolute and relative terms, will be spent on IT in the future.

Dirk Bruere, Bedford , England

I just wonder if this is going to be another angle of attack on the internet! Seems lots of people are lining up to curb internet freedom: governments (surveillance & censorship); music companies (copyright infringement); & now environmentalists.

Michael, Bury, UK

This doesn't quite make sense to me. Google is going to run their computers whether or not anyone is doing searches. They aren't like lights that Google shuts off when nobody uses them.

HAL, Chicago,

I am amused that a Left-leaning company like Google is now in the sights of the environannies. LOL.

Cyrus, Saint Paul, MN/USA

When the goof-ball environmentalists finally realize the CO2 DOES NOT cause global warming then maybe we'll see some real news.

Oliver, Sonoma, USA