WEBVTT - How Green Is Your Favorite Superhero?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain stuff from how stuff works. Hey there,

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<v Speaker 1>brain stuff, Lauren Vogel bomb here. If you're out there

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<v Speaker 1>saving humanity from supervillains, doesn't matter how many pounds of

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<v Speaker 1>carbon you used to do it. Gotham City would have

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<v Speaker 1>been obliterated a hundred times over if Batman weren't constantly

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<v Speaker 1>bailing it out of trouble. But that batmobile sure is

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<v Speaker 1>a gas guzzler, not to mention the Batwing airplane, and

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<v Speaker 1>the electricity bill for the bat Cave is probably astronomical.

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<v Speaker 1>So is all that do gooding really doing good? After all?

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<v Speaker 1>Some researchers from Stanford University presented a poster at the

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<v Speaker 1>American Geophysical Unions Fall meeting entitled Stop Saving the Planet

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<v Speaker 1>Carbon Accounting of Superheroes and their Impacts on Climate change.

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<v Speaker 1>The point of the project was to bring awareness to

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<v Speaker 1>the fact that everybody on this planet has a carbon footprint,

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<v Speaker 1>which is a calculation of how much carbon each of

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<v Speaker 1>us uses in our daily activities, such as driving, eating,

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<v Speaker 1>and heating and cooling our houses. The average Americans carbon

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<v Speaker 1>footprint is around forty four thousand pounds. That's abouts of

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<v Speaker 1>carbon per year. An average person in the United Arab

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<v Speaker 1>Emirates uses a good bit more, and the average Peruvian

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<v Speaker 1>uses considerably less. But what about your average superhero, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>according to the study, they're all over the map. Take Superman.

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<v Speaker 1>According to the comics, the Man of Steel is entirely

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<v Speaker 1>solar powered, which nets him a carbon footprint of zero.

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<v Speaker 1>Bless him. Jessica Jones probably comes in slightly below the

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<v Speaker 1>average Americans carbon use thanks to her small Brooklyn apartment

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<v Speaker 1>and reliance on public transportation and swamp thing, what with

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<v Speaker 1>his power to make plants grow, might actually have a

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<v Speaker 1>negative carbon footprint. That's not the case for every good

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<v Speaker 1>Samaritan in a cape, however. The Oracle firstwhile bat girl

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<v Speaker 1>turned computer hacker might weigh in at a conservative estimate

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<v Speaker 1>of one and fifty one thousand pounds or sixty eight kilograms,

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<v Speaker 1>but the figure might be as high as thirty two

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<v Speaker 1>million pounds or a hundred and forty five million kilograms,

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<v Speaker 1>depending on how many servers she's running. An iron Man

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<v Speaker 1>who makes a concerted effort to employ green energy sources

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<v Speaker 1>would come in higher than the average American because of

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<v Speaker 1>the sheer amount of tech that he uses, and the

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<v Speaker 1>flash who can run near the speed of light, might

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<v Speaker 1>require an insane number of calories to accomplish this feat,

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<v Speaker 1>possibly as much as eighty nine million pounds or forty

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<v Speaker 1>five million kims worth of carbon. But isn't this kind

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<v Speaker 1>of a silly question for serious scientists to spend their

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<v Speaker 1>time exploring? Poster co author Miles Treyer, a post doctorial

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<v Speaker 1>researcher at Stanford, told EOS, if I calculate my own

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<v Speaker 1>carbon footprint, that's depressing. If I calculate Batman's carbon footprint,

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<v Speaker 1>that's hilarious. So let's go with the hilarious. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>way of tricking people into learning. Next, Trayer is setting

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<v Speaker 1>his sights on the carbon footprint of supervillains. One of

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<v Speaker 1>my favorites, he said, is Mr Freeze, because refrigeration carries

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<v Speaker 1>a pretty horrendous carbon footprint. Today's episode was written by

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<v Speaker 1>Usling Shields and produced by Tristan McNeil. For more on

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<v Speaker 1>this and lots of other environmental topics, visit our home planet,

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff Works dot com.