Google co-founder faces backlash as details emerge on mind-boggling megayacht: 'Longer than five blue whales lined up'

This superyacht is super awful for the environment.

Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google, owns one of the largest superyachts in the world. The $450 million superyacht, named "Dragonfly," is "longer than five blue whales lined up," per Luxury Launches, and is the "largest superyacht in the United States."

The 465-foot megayacht features two helicopter landing pads, several pools, a movie theater, and an entire beauty salon.

This is shockingly standard for superyachts. Opera, a superyacht owned by an Abu Dhabi prince, also has two helipads, a swimming pool that can convert to a dance floor, and has enough rooms to fit 48 guests and 80 staff.

Superyachts are an excessive display of wealth, and they're the most polluting form of "travel." Dragonfly uses diesel-electric propulsion, which is better for the environment than traditional diesel engines, but is still a significant source of emissions.

Superyachts emit thousands of tons of planet-warming pollutants, like carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and sulfur oxide. Together, "the annual CO2 emissions of the top 300 superyachts is almost 285,000 tons," per Fortune.

That's more than some countries emit annually. For the average person, it "would take about 1,500 years … to produce as much carbon as the richest billionaires do in a year," according to Oxfam.

Superyachts also contribute to marine degradation and ocean acidification. Their engines also create noise and light pollution, disturbing animals and delicate habitats.

The extraordinary cost, sheer amount of emissions, and lack of regulation are why many call superyachts "environmentally indefensible."

Staying climate-conscious when you're aware of the disproportionate emissions of the wealthy can feel disheartening, but making a small difference is better than making no difference at all.

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To reduce your own carbon footprint, consider making your next car an electric vehicle, riding a bike instead of driving, or taking public transit. And, of course, don't buy a superyacht.

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