© 2007 American Thoracic Society
The Carbon Footprint of the American Thoracic Society MeetingTo the Editor:The American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference held in San Diego in May 2006 was attended by approximately 15,000 delegates, the majority of whom traveled by air. The environmental impact of such a large international meeting is likely to be significant, but has not been previously studied. The carbon dioxide emissions were calculated for air travel to and from San Diego using the attendance figures for ATS 2006 divided by an estimate of the distance traveled from the country or state of origin. All delegates were assumed to have traveled from the largest city in their country, state, or province. Connecting flights were determined using a commercial website (www.expedia.com) and the overall journey time of the shortest duration was selected. Carbon dioxide emissions were calculated according to a widely accepted model (1), assuming travel on a Boeing 737 for journeys of 2,000 km or less, and a Boeing 747 for journeys greater than 2,000 km. As a comparison, calculations using the 2006 delegate information were made for return travel to the five other ATS host cities since 2000 (Atlanta, Orlando, Seattle, San Francisco, and Toronto). Carbon dioxide emissions were calculated for 14,914 delegates from 45 U.S. states (8,496 delegates), 7 Canadian provinces (937 delegates), and 49 other countries (Europe, 3,578; Asia, 1,078; North America (non–United States/Canada), 130; South America, 364; Australasia, 270; Africa, 61). Total carbon dioxide emissions generated in flying delegates to and from San Diego were 10,779 tons. Emissions for the other five host cities were as follows: Toronto, 7,813 tons; Atlanta, 8,349 tons; Orlando, 8,976 tons; Seattle, 10,202 tons, San Francisco, 10,870 tons. The yearly per capita carbon dioxide emission in the United States is 19.7 tons (2). Various organizations now offer the opportunity to "offset" carbon dioxide emissions by funding projects that reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide by promoting renewable energy, reducing energy inefficiency, and supporting forest restoration. The cost of offsetting air travel–derived carbon dioxide emissions for the whole conference by one such organization (www.climatecare.org) would be $109,582 for a conference held in Toronto and $152,451 for San Francisco—a difference of approximately 40%. The ATS has a strong history of advocacy for environmental protection and pollution control (3). We suggest that the ATS might again take a lead by encouraging delegates to offset carbon dioxide emissions involved in traveling to the conference by making a $10 donation with their registration fee that would be matched by the ATS.
St James' University Hospital, Leeds, United Kingdom
Royal Brompton Hospital and Imperial College, London, United Kingdom Acknowledgments The authors thank Tanya Berman and Stella Bell from Climatecare for assistance with calculating carbon dioxide emissions. FOOTNOTES Conflict of Interest Statement: Neither author has a financial relationship with a commercial entity that has an interest in the subject of this manuscript. REFERENCES
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