What are the environmental impacts of digital technology? ( Write minimum 300 words )
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Answer:
The Impact of Technology on the Environment
The industrial revolution has brought about new technologies with immense power. This was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Europe and the United States, in the period from about 1760 to 1840. This has been succeeded by continued industrialisation and further technological advancements in developed countries around the world, and the impact of this technology on the environment has included the misuse and damage of our natural earth.
These technologies have damaged our world in two main ways; pollution and the depletion of natural resources.
1. Air and water pollution
Air pollution occurs when harmful or excessive quantities of gases such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitric oxide and methane are introduced into the earth’s atmosphere. The main sources all relate to technologies which emerged following the industrial revolution such as the burning of fossil fuels, factories, power stations, mass agriculture and vehicles. The consequences of air pollution include negative health impacts for humans and animals and global warming, whereby the increased amount of greenhouse gases in the air trap thermal energy in the Earth’s atmosphere and cause the global temperature to rise.
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Most digital technologies rely on rare minerals that are becoming increasingly scarce. Many people are unaware, for example, that a mobile phone contains more than a third of the elements in the Periodic Table.[xxi]
Minerals such as Cobalt, the 17 rare earth elements, Gallium, Indium and Tungsten are becoming more and more in demand, and as supply is limited prices have often increased significantly. They can also fluctuate dramatically.
Above all, as these minerals become depleted, new technological solutions will be needed to replace them.
Though, the actual exploitation of such resources is often hugely environmentally damaging, and the use of child labour is considered by many as being unacceptable[xxii] – yet such people still buy phones!
Mine tailings, open cast mining methods, and waste spillages are all commonplace. Violence and conflict over ownership of the resources is also widespread, as are the negative health implications of many of the mining methods.
Similarly, frequent reports highlight the plight of children exploited in mining the minerals necessary for digital technologies, particularly so in the Democratic Republic of Congo.[xxiii]