你上网的习惯对环境有害吗?

你上网的习惯对环境有害吗?

In the old days, when you had to drive to a movie theater or go to a video store to get some entertainment, it was easy to see how your actions could have an impact on the environment. After all, you were hopping into your car, driving across town and coughing out emissions and using gas all the way.

在过去，当你开车去电影院或音像店买些娱乐节目时，很容易就能看出你的行为对环境的影响。毕竟，你跳上你的车，开车穿过城市，一路排放废气和使用汽油。

The smaller your screen, the less energy you use when you stream. (Photo: GaudiLab/Shutterstock)

But now that we're used to staying at home and streaming movies and miniseries, we might get a little cocky. After all, we're just picking up our phones and maybe turning on the TV.

但是现在我们已经习惯了呆在家里看电影和迷你剧，我们可能会有点自大。毕竟，我们只是拿起手机，也许打开电视。

Not so fast, says a recent report from the French-based Shift Project, which bills itself as "the carbon transition think tank."

总部位于法国的“转变项目”(Shift Project)最近发布了一份报告，称其为“碳转型智库”。

According to "Climate Crisis: The Unsustainable Use of Online Video," digital technologies are responsible for 4% of greenhouse gas emissions, and that energy use is increasing by 9% a year.

根据《气候危机:在线视频的不可持续使用》，数字技术造成了4%的温室气体排放，而能源消耗每年以9%的速度增长。

"Stored in data centers, videos are transferred to our terminals (computers, smartphones, connected TVs, etc.) via networks (cables, optical fiber, modems, mobile network antennae, etc.): all these processes require electricity whose production consumes resources and usually involves CO2 emissions," the report points out.

报告指出:“视频存储在数据中心，通过网络(电缆、光纤、调制解调器、移动网络天线等)传输到我们的终端(电脑、智能手机、联网电视等):所有这些过程都需要电力，而电力的生产消耗资源，通常还会排放二氧化碳。”

Watching a half-hour show would lead to 3.5 pounds (1.6 kilograms) of carbon dioxide emissions, Shift Project's Maxime Efoui-Hess tells AFP. That's like driving 3.9 miles (6.28 kilometers).

Shift项目的马克西姆·福伊-赫斯告诉法新社，看半小时的电视节目将会导致3.5磅(1.6公斤)的二氧化碳排放。这相当于开车3.9英里(6.28公里)。

In the European Union, the Eureca project found that data centers there used 25% more energy in 2017 compared to just three years earlier, reports the BBC.

据英国广播公司报道，欧盟Eureca项目发现，与三年前相比，欧盟数据中心2017年的能耗增加了25%。

Project lead scientist, Rabih Bashroush, calculated that 5 billion downloads and streams of the 2017 song "Despacito," consumed as much electricity as the countries of Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Somalia, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic used in a single year.

该项目的首席科学家拉比·巴鲁什计算出，2017年的歌曲《Despacito》有50亿次下载和流媒体，消耗的电量相当于乍得、几内亚比绍、索马里、塞拉利昂和中非共和国一年的用电量。

Streaming is only expected to increase as we become more enamored of our devices and the prospect of enjoying entertainment where and when we want it.

流媒体只会随着我们越来越迷恋我们的设备和随时随地享受娱乐的前景而增长。

What you can do

你能做什么

Everything you upload to the cloud uses energy, so experts recommend editing what you save. (Photo: GaudiLab/Shutterstock)

You're probably not going to give up your Netflix and other streaming services, but there are things you can do to help lessen the impact of your online use, experts say.

你可能不会放弃你的Netflix和其他流媒体服务，但专家说，你可以做一些事情来帮助减少在线使用的影响。

For example, practice good digital hygiene, Lutz Stobbe, who researches the environmental impact of information and telecommunications technology at the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration in Berlin, tells Ecowatch.

例如，实践良好的数字卫生，Lutz Stobbe在柏林弗劳恩霍夫可靠性和微集成研究所研究信息和电信技术对环境的影响，他告诉Ecowatch。

"Do you really need to upload 25 images of the same thing to the cloud? Every photo, every video is constantly backed up, for safety reasons, and that consumes energy every time. If instead you delete a few things here and there, you can save energy."

“你真的需要把同一件事的25张图片上传到云端吗?”为了安全起见，每一张照片、每一段视频都要不断地备份，这每次都会消耗能量。相反，如果你删除一些东西，你可以节省能源。”

Here are some other tips:

这里有一些其他的提示:

1.Disable autoplay for video through your browser and on social media.

通过浏览器和社交媒体禁用视频自动播放。

2.Stream over Wi-Fi, not mobile networks.

使用Wi-Fi，而不是移动网络。

3.Watch on the smallest screen you can. Phones tend to be more energy-efficient than TVs or laptops.

尽量在最小的屏幕上观看。手机往往比电视或笔记本电脑更节能。

4.Turn off your Wi-Fi in your home if you're not using your devices.

如果你不使用你家里的设备，关掉你的Wi-Fi。

5.Don't use high-definition video on small devices. You won't be able to tell the difference.

不要在小型设备上使用高清视频。你看不出有什么区别。