by “Modern technology
Owes ecology
An apology.”
~Alan M. Eddison
8/29
In the postmodern society we live in, we rely on various technologies every day of our lives to function. Ever since our industrial revolution in the 1800s, we have developed at an exponential rate. With better technology and resources to ease the way of life for humans, we have seemingly neglected how all these advancements have impacted the Earth. With rising temperatures and glaciers melting and an ozone layer breach, along with deforestation, we have done more harm than good to the environment that allows us to live comfortably. If we keep neglecting the wellbeing of our planet, the Earth might not be habitable in a few hundred years.
The consistent development of modern technology has yielded woeful environmental concerns for us. The lack of concern for the environment when developing these technologies to save cost has been detrimental to the earth. Smartphones are an essential part of everyday life. We constantly use them and upgrade them, even though it is not a necessity. Due to this constant need to upgrade our smartphones, we end up polluting more. The mining of the rare earth materials for them to operate results in around 90% of the total CO2 emissions. So when we buy a new phone we account for the equivalent of using the same phone for the same decade and recharging it.
The same can be said with cars. As we develop, humans are able to travel faster than ever and farther. This has caused a huge boom in car ownership. It is essential to have in order to function in today’s society. Cars have been attributed as one of the leading causes of greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere. The scope of car pollution does not base solely from just the nitrous oxide that depletes the ozone layers that protects us from the ultraviolet rays from the sun, oil, fuel, and other pollutants seep into soil, waterways, and contaminates many habitats. This disturbs the many ecosystems that keep this earth running, harms animals, and destroys plant life.
Another prevalent issue we have been constantly ignoring is deforestation. Trees are a natural combatant of carbon dioxide emissions, we are destroying them at a rate faster than we can replace them. Replacing them with buildings and pollutant creators just creates more of a problem. The deforestation also ends up disrupting certain ecosystems that live there. This causes a disruption in the food chain.
Although these are all negative effects of the interlude of technology with the earth. Our advancements in technology have allowed for improvements to certain aspects o the wellbeing of the earth. The rise of email, online bill paying, and messaging has allowed less paper to be cut down. Companies rely less on mail advertising now rather focus on targeted online ads. New technologies have allowed us to be more conscious of our carbon footprint with more efficient and better devices. The increase in technology has allowed us to be able to access and study the environment better. This has also allowed us to raise awareness and more concern to help us preserve the environment.
We fail to neglect the environmental concerns our advancements as a human race has had on the Earth. The advancements of technology, the neglect of society, and the science of environmental health have resulted in the decline of the livability of earth. Using Science, Technology, and Society can help us understand how these connect together and how we can learn from these things as a whole.
Sources:
https://sciencing.com/difference-between-human-natural-air-pollution-23687.html