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April 29, 2011 11:12 am PDT

Low-energy astrophysics: How scientists are trying to save the Earth

Listen to the scientists. That's what we say. When lots of different scientists, working separately, are turning up evidence that the Earth is getting warmer and human activities are to blame, then we should heed their warnings. Scientists, from many different disciplines, say that their research shows we should be concerned about climate change. If we want to reduce our risk, we'll have to start using less fossil fuels. That's a big shift in the way the world thinks about energy. It's bound to change our lives—and we may not necessarily like all the changes. And that fact begs a question: Do the scientists who sound the alarm on climate change have a responsibility to take the lead on energy change? Phil Marshall thinks so. He's an astrophysicist. That may not be a field of science you immediately associate with the study of climate change, but there's actually a surprisingly strong connection. Astrophysicists know a lot about planetary atmospheres. From their work, we've learned more about the greenhouse effect—the way higher carbon dioxide concentrations in an atmosphere make a planet warmer. In 2004, the American Astronomical Society called for policy makers to base their decisions on the weight of scientific evidence. Climate change is real, they said, and politicians need to recognize that fact. But astrophysicists also use a lot of energy. Like many scientists, they rely on energy-intensive technologies for gathering data. But, for astronomers, using that technology often means traveling halfway around the world on a jet plane, burning fuel all along the way. To meet all our energy needs, Americans use the equivalent of roughly 250 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day, per person. But if that American is an astrophysicist, they have to add another 133 kilowatt-hours per day to their tab. That's why, in 2009, Marshall spearheaded the writing of a manifesto. Low Energy Astrophysics—a pun on "high energy astrophysics", which is the study of things like supernovae and black holes—was a white paper, co-authored by 30 astrophysicists. The goal: Get scientists to look at their own energy use, and then convince them to set an example for other people to follow. "How can we ask people to fly less if we ourselves are doing lots of flying in the course of our work? How can we ask people to turn their thermostats down and put on sweaters if we are using whole towns' worth of electricity colliding particles together?", he says. "We have to explain the numbers to people, but then we have do everything we can to clean up our acts—just like we are asking them to."...


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