FROM THE DEPT OF WE ARE DOOMED

A new bit of bad news about carbon emissions, reported in The Economist:

According to a report published by the Climate Group, a think-tank based in London, computers, printers, mobile phones and the widgets that accompany them account for the emission of 830m tonnes of carbon dioxide around the world in 2007. That is about 2% of the estimated total of emissions from human activity. And that is the same as the aviation industry’s contribution. According to the report, about a quarter of the emissions in question are generated by the manufacture of computers and so forth. The rest come from their use.

So much for the magic bullet of telecommuting. On the upside, this awkwardly curbs lingering feelings of guilt for all those long-haul flights ...