Technological
Advancement and the Effect on the Ecosystem
While technology can be powerful force
to improve our standard of living, it comes at a cost. New technological goods
are often burdensome to the environment. This damage may come from acquiring
the resources to produce new technology, or from toxic byproducts of technological
production. It can consist of environmentally harmful waste produced by the
technology itself, or the castoff remains of obsolete technology.
Resource-Intensive
Technology
Some categories of technology, such as
electronics, require resources that are difficult to acquire without harming
the environment. For example, the advanced batteries in hybrid cars are
composed of nickel and rare-earth metals. Mining these materials is a
significant source of harmful emission, including solvent vapors, sulfuric acid
and coal dust. Acid-laden water discharges kill all plant and animal life
around nearby waterways and have sickened and killed nearby rural residents.
This mining largely takes place in China, which has admitted that it sells the rare
earths cheaply because it sacrifices environmental safety standards in the
mining process, similar batteries exist in personal consumer electronics, hard drives,
fuel cells, wind turbines, polishing powers and catalytic converters
Technology
Disposal
New advances in technology often
render old technology useless; Discarding outdated or worn out technological goods
is a significant source of environmental damage.
Hazardous
By-Products
The use of technology can ease our
lives, but it can also damage the environment. The most obvious example of technology
usage producing harmful by-products is the greenhouse gases and other toxic
emissions from transportation technology.
By: Khadheeja Zuyyina ( ACFS-1)
