A Canadian scientist says university research should be added to the list of human activities that contribute to global warming.

Professor Hervé Philippe from the University of Montreal has discovered that his own research produces 44 tons of carbon dioxide a year. The average American citizen, in contrast, produces 20 tons of carbon dioxide annually.

According to Philippe, his computers produce 19 tons of carbon dioxide a year, the air-conditioning in his lab produces 10 tons and transportation to and from his many environmental meetings produce another 15 tons of carbon dioxide every year.

Philippe, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Evolutionary Bioinformatics and Genomics, was shocked: “I did my PhD in the hope of advancing our knowledge of biodiversity, but I never thought the research itself could have a negative impact on biodiversity.”