Meteorologist: Why Email Signatures Aren’t ‘Costing…Lives’ Or ‘Hammering The Planet’
by Anthony Watts Mar 21, 2025
A recent article in The Conversation, written by Joshua M. Pearce and titled, “Email signatures are harming the planet and could cost people their lives — it’s time to stop using them,” makes a bold claim; email signatures are supposedly harming the environment and even “costing lives” due to their energy consumption. [emphasis, links added]
The claim is not just false and exaggerated—it’s outright ridiculous.
A deeper look at the actual energy usage of emails, the infrastructure of the Internet, and the overwhelming impact of spam emails show that the supposed climate harm from email signatures is trivial at best.
In the article, the author states, “It is estimated that the average email, including all those ‘kind regards’ and corporate disclaimers, releases 4g of CO2 emissions.”
This kind of claim is a prime example of misrepresenting numbers without context.
https://climatechangedispatch.com/meteorologist-why-email-signatures-arent-costinglives-or-hammering-the-planet/
