I would prefer not to aggravate global warming
Authors: Xavier Anglaret
Journal: The Lancet Planetary Health (2018)

The world population is growing, as are greenhouse gas emissions (figure, A). 85% of the energy that feeds this extraordinary development is carbon based (figure, B). Consumption of these resources causes global warming (figure, C), which has disastrous consequences. It is therefore imperative that we reduce resource consumption quickly (appendix).5Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report.in: Pachauri RK Meyer LA Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC, Geneva2014http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syrDate accessed: July 31, 2018Google Scholar, 6Hausfather Z Andrew R Analysis: global CO2 emissions set to rise 2% in 2017 after threeyear "plateau". Carbon Brief and Global Carbon Project.https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-global-co2emissions-set-to-rise-2-percent-in-2017following-three-year-plateauDate: Nov 13, 2017Date accessed: July 31, 2018Google Scholar Reductions can be made voluntarily to protect the planet, or forcibly, by natural exhaustion. Carbon-based energies cannot be fully replaced by renewable energies in the short term because renewables involve the production of electricity that is difficult to store and scaling up storage facilities takes time.7Mathiesen K What is holding back the growth of solar power?.The Guardian. Jan 31, 2016; https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/jan/31/solar-power-what-is-holding-back-growth-clean-energyDate accessed: July 31, 2018Google Scholar Thus, we cannot limit the consumption of carbon-based energy without also limiting our overall energy consumption. We, scientists, are doing useful research, examining the health of the planet, and proposing solutions to make things better. Why should we ration ourselves at the risk of becoming less efficient, when we account for a drop in the ocean of world energy consumption? The answer is that because in a world increasingly exposed to political extremes and disinformation, science will become more and more essential in highlighting difficult choices. Those who represent the world of science must be coherent if they want to be considered credible. What measure of credibility can be given when 15 000 researchers warn humanity about the state of the planet8Ripple W Wolf C Newsome TM et al.World scientists' warning to humanity: a second notice.BioScience. 2017; 67: 1026-1028Crossref Scopus (613) Google Scholar and the rest continue to scurry from congress to congress, releasing CO2, and displaying a business-as-usual attitude that belies the notion of emergency?9Macintosh A Wallace L International aviation emissions to 2025: can emissions be stabilised without restricting demand?.Energy Policy. 2009; 37: 264-273Crossref Scopus (117) Google Scholar The dominant global model invites competition, multiple trips (figure, D), rapid turnover of goods, and accumulation of new activities that push humans and machines to the limits of their capacity. It is difficult, even for the most well informed of us, not to end up being convinced once more that it is necessary to attend a world congress, participate in a new initiative (with which it would be unthinkable not to be associated) involving multiple face-to-face intercontinental meetings, circulate supposedly very important emails at every hour of every day, give in to another apparently urgent request to review a manuscript, respond to a new call for applications when the team's agenda is already full, or spend an increasing amount of time using energy consuming robots.10Vidal J Tsunami of data could consume one fifth of global electricity by 2025. Climate Home News.http://www.climatechangenews.com/2017/12/11/tsunami-data-consume-one-fifth-global-electricity-2025Date: Dec 11, 2017Date accessed: July 31, 2018Google Scholar The challenge has turned into a paradoxical injunction: carry on the campaign against global warming at night (in the private sphere), but remain hyperactive during the day (in the professional sphere), thus aggravating global warming. This inconsistency must stop, if not for the sake of our mental health, then at least for the sake of the planet. In a short story by Herman Melville (Bartelby, the Scrivener), a law clerk refuses increasingly over time to do the tasks entrusted to him, using the recurring phrase "I would prefer not to". I wish an increasing number of scientists would prefer not to aggravate global warming. I declare no competing interests.