Raising Awareness at Penn About the Media and Environmental Issues

Like many people, University of Pennsylvania senior Melanie Murphy uses her smartphone to do a Google search when she's looking for information, but, now that she knows about the environmental impact of using electronic devices, she thinks twice before doing so. This semester, while taking Cinema Studies Assistant Professor Rahul Mukherjee's "Environmental Media" class in the School of Arts & Sciences , Murphy learned that using electronic devices can cause harmful carbon emissions. The class looks at how these types of data-driven activities affect the earth's geology and ecosystems, It also explored the media's depiction of environmental issues and controversies involving media infrastructures, such as cellphone towers and the possible effects on the health of nearby residents. Mukherjee says many people aren't aware that their appetites for data via computers, cellphones and other electronic devices have environmental implications. "Think about the carbon footprint of a Facebook 'like' or binging on NetFlix," says Mukherjee. "Cloud computing is not soot free." Millions of gallons of water and huge amounts of electricity are used by companies each year for air conditioning systems to cool data servers. "It requires a significant amount of coal that's burned," says Mukherjee.