Quantitation and Patterns of Carbon Expenditure for 2019 AOFAS Annual Meeting Attendance

Category: Other; Basic Sciences/Biologics Introduction/Purpose: Greenhouse gas production is the major driver of anthropogenic climate change (ACC). To counteract the current trends in ACC, climate experts recommend no more than 2 tonnes of CO2 be generated/person/year. Currently, the global average is 4 tonnes/person/year. Current approximate per capita national average for CO2 production in the U.S. is 20 tonnes/person/year. Airline travel is a major contributor to greenhouse gas production. Although many factors contribute to CO2 production by academic conference attendees, air travel is by far the greatest contributor. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic the AOFAS annual meeting (AOFASAM) was held in-person without a virtual attendance option. We estimated and characterized the greenhouse gas production generated by attendance at the last all-in-person (2019) AOFASAM. Methods: We estimated departure airports for all registered participants attending the 2019 AOFASAM using a de-identified list of postal addresses. For each address, the nearest large airport (origin) was determined using a publicly available web-based locator. Using this origin, CO2 production for each round-trip flight to Chicago was determined using a publicly available web- based calculator. Total and average CO2 production for all registrants at the AOFASAM was calculated. Results: There were a total of 1271 registrants for the 2019 AOFASAM. Because of their proximity, 64 individuals were estimated to not have used air travel. A total of 1206.67 tonnes of CO2 was estimated to have been generated by round-trip flights for AOFASAM registrants. This averages to 0.95 tonnes CO2 generated per AOFASAM registrant (range 0.06 to 6.3 tonnes). No registrant with a U.S. address was estimated to have generated more than 1.04 tonnes of CO2. Individually, international registrants generated between 0.35 and 6.3 tonnes of CO2. A majority (58%) of registrants were estimated to have generated >1 tonne of CO2 (n=321 [25%], 1-2 tonnes; n=295 [23%], 2-3 tonnes and n=122 [10%], >3 tonnes). Conclusion: Travel to the AOFASAM results in substantial CO2 production. One-third of attendees exceeded the WHO recommended annual CO2 production/person/year by attending the meeting; another 25% generated 50-100% of this limit. To meet WHO guidelines for CO2/person/year production, and set a good example for the rest of society, we need to consider alternatives to in-person meetings or pay for offsets to do our part in cu