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Duke Physics Colloquium: How Much Does Your Lunch Contribute to Climate Change, and What Can We All Do About It?

Sarah Bridle
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Sarah Bridle (University of Manchester)
Duke Physics Colloquium

** Please note this event begins at 12:00 noon. **

"How Much Does Your Lunch Contribute to Climate Change, and What Can We All Do About It?"

I have been studying dark matter and dark energy for the last 20 years, but when my kids started school I started to think about our own planet in the next 20 years and beyond. I learned about climate change properly for the first time, how it threatens worldwide food production, and how food causes about a quarter of all global warming. I wanted to know how much each of my food choices was contributing, and why. I delved into the academic research literature, and summarized the results in simple charts. The charts make it easy for the non-specialist to see the impacts of different meal options, and show that some easy food switches can reduce food greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent. Most of us make many food choices every day, and by changing these we can significantly reduce climate change caused by food, and free up land that can be used to help reduce climate change overall.

Faculty host: Michael Troxel

Contact: Cristin Ryman