technology environment essay

The Effect of Technology on the Environment Essay

Introduction, the impact of new technologies on the development of the society.

The twentieth century has witnessed rapid development of new technologies; it stands to reason, that their impact on the environment cannot be underestimated. At the present moment, humankind has to resolve one of the most complicated dilemmas in its history, in particular how to achieve equilibrium between the needs of people or (probably it would be better to say public good ) and the risks to the Earth. One has to admit that in the vast majority of cases, human activities have only detrimental effects on nature, and under some circumstances, scientific achievements may easily aggravate these effects. In this essay, I would like to focus on energy technologies, because they often pose the major threat to the environment.

Overall, there are many means of generating and harnessing energy, but none of them can be regarded as safe. At this point, it is hardly possible to imagine our life without power stations, electricity, and so forth. One can hardly deny that these are constituent and almost inseparable parts of our life. Yet, the risk they present to people and nature are almost unpredictable. In order to substantiate this statement, we may refer to specific examples, such as nuclear power plants. Its explosion can leave a great number a people dead, as it actually happened in the USSR in 1986. The so-called Chernobyl catastrophe has always been a warning to us. Even now, there are many victims to this disaster, and it is impossible to predict when the consequences will be alleviated.

At first glance, it may seem that the only possible solution to problem is to substitute these technologies by safer ones. In fact, many countries prefer not to have nuclear power stations. Certainly, such policy is rather prudent, because it ensures that the environment is not imperiled. Nonetheless, we should say that such approach is not always applicable, because there are some states, which simply cannot afford such transition. The thing is that nuclear power is by far the cheapest way of generating energy, and occasionally it is the most optimal solution, especially, if we are speaking about the developing world. Thus, it is necessary to take into consideration socio-economic factors. Another issue, which should not be overlooked, is the availability of natural resources.

In some regions, nuclear power is the only way of solving energy problem. It goes without saying that we must attach primary importance to long-term policies but the transition to ecologically safe technologies may sometimes lead to severe recession and economic crisis, especially in third-world countries. Perhaps, it is of crucial importance to exercise constant supervision over power plants and bring at least gradual improvements, which may eventually make this technology more reliable. Apart from that, there are many cases, which also illustrate this dilemma, for instance, the extraction of oil in the Pacific Ocean. A great number of people protest against such practice. Nevertheless, even they have to admit that in the near future, it will be the only alternative.

It is possible to come up with several suggestions regarding this issue. First and foremost, we need to emphasize the fact that people will exploit the resources of the nature for a certain period of time, after that they will become entirely depleted. Therefore, it is necessary to devise lest expensive and safe means of generating energy. In the meantime, we need to consider socio-economic situation in a particular region, in some cases, financial assistance should rendered to those countries, who cannot, independently, cope with this problem.

There is a widely held opinion among many philosophers and scholars that new technologies affect the development of human society. Overall, it seems that these are two variables that are so closely interwoven, and it is hardly permissible to separate them from one another. Occasionally, it is the society, which gives rise to new technologies, because there is popular demand for them. Sometimes, this process may be reversed. There are several cases, which can illustrate this process. For example, the supporters of the Marxist society may argue that scientific discoveries or inventions may contribute to further stratification of the community. The thesis comes down to the following: a person, who is able to purchase and utilize the achievements of engineers or constructors, will be able to dictate terms to other people. In order to support their argument, they refer to the so-called Industrial Revolution, which began in the United Kingdom in the eighteenth century. The invention of steam engine or spinning machine resulted in the stratification of the then society, because only very few could buy these devices, and subsequently use them for their purposes.

However, it may happen vice versa as well. The development of science and technology may be motivated by the demand of the community. For instance, at the end of the nineteenth century, there was a necessity to develop more effective means of communication. It stands to reason; there was an immediate response to this demand, namely the advent of telephone and radio.

It is extremely difficult to predict how these relations between the society and technology will develop in the near future. In this respect, we need to discuss the concept of technocracy. Traditionally, it is defined as a political system according to which engineers or scientists take control of the state. It seems that there is a slightly different scenario. Perhaps, the helm will be taken not by scientists, engineers or the inventors of new technologies, but by those ones who hire them. There is sufficient evidence, indicating that this prognosis is not something unrealistic. Big corporations have always attracted the attention of the public, but this issue still requires thorough examination, because for a considerable amount of time the government took somewhat laisser-faire approach to new technologies and economy. Consequently, leading companies (there is no need to name them in this essay) have transformed into de facto or real rulers of many countries. It may seem that new technologies only aggravate the situation, but one should take into consideration that science, itself, is always impartial, it is supposed to work for the sake of all members of the community. Thus, the government must ensure that new technology does not turn into a means of control. Perhaps, some changes in the legislation are needed, especially, concerning, the anti-monopolistic laws, which still allow corporations to control the market and subsequently the world.

Therefore, it is quite possible for us to arrive at the conclusion that new technologies and society can be considered as two interdependent variables, their development is a two-sided process. It is not quite appropriate to presume that only new scientific achievements influence the community. Yet, it has to be admitted that the situation, which has recently emerged, suggests that very soon people, possessing new technologies will come to power, which means that the rest of the world will become completely dependant on them. In order to avoid this disaster, it is necessary to review already-existing legislation, which enables this organization to achieve dominant positions.

• Nuclear Energy: Safe, Economical, Reliable
• Should Production of Nuclear Power Be Stopped?
• Nuclear Power Use Controversies
• Biodiversity Hotspots and Environmental Ethics
• Ecosystem and the Biosphere: Effect of Human Activities
• Acid Rain - Causes and Effects
• Las Vegas Water Shortage
• Industrial Pollution in China and USA
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Bibliography

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Cutting Through Environmental Issues: Technology as a double-edged sword

David austin and and daa david austin and molly k. macauley mkm molly k. macauley.

December 1, 2001

• 11 min read

Slack covers everything. It sifts in everywhere. Slack is what doesn’t melt in the mountains of red ore-a metal particle, powdered ore, powdered metal. It silts down all growing things. You can see the tiny bits of ore gleaming in your hands. The shining ore dusts your coat. It gets in your hair. On certain days they blow the slack out. Mighty currents of air blow the choking slack out of the costly mill chimneys onto the cheap human life outside. Those days the sun is darkened, and the steel workers returning home hide their faces as from a sand storm. They duck along, jackets over heads, under the fury of the falling slack. You find it everywhere. . . . Nothing, between soot and slack, can be clean long in the steel towns. “Steel Towns,” from Men and Steel, by Mary Heaton Vorse

The Industrial Revolution brought forth extraordinary gains in financial prosperity. Between 1870 and 1910, per capita income in the United States rose almost 40 percent, and the value of manufacturing output increased sevenfold. Yet rapid industrialization left in its wake darkened noontime skies, noisy and unsafe machinery, and severely compromised living conditions.

It took nearly three generations before the first concerted efforts were made to bring pollution under control, but once begun, progress has been real. The air quality index for the United States now shows a 42 percent improvement since 1980. The number of U.S. cities failing to meet national air quality standards for ozone, 199 in 1990, was just 70 by 1995. Automobile emissions of six principal air pollutants have decreased 31 percent even while the number of vehicle miles driven has more than doubled.

Having dirtied the earth, air, and water for more than a century, technology is now showing promise in environmental cleanup. Technological innovations specifically aimed at reducing pollution-from cleaner manufacturing processes to flue gas scrubbers to catalytic converters-now figure prominently in mitigating some of the growing pains of an increasingly technological world.

Technology, in other words, is a double-edged sword-one capable both of doing and undoing damage to environmental quality. In what follows, we look at technology and the environment in four key areas: energy, climate, water quality, and waste cleanup. In each case, we illustrate the dual nature of technology’s environmental implications. We also touch on the emerging relationship between the Internet and environmental quality, one that again seems to cut both ways. We then note how technology is helping to fashion policies that allow producers and consumers to recognize and internalize the environmental costs of technology and thus to spur innovation to clean up the environment. .

All the world’s economies continue to face big challenges in using energy-the lifeblood of the industrial age-while maintaining environmental quality. Although U.S. energy efficiency is much greater than ever before, growth in the economy has assured rising energy consumption. While the average fuel efficiency of new passenger cars has more than doubled since 1975, the environmental gains are increasingly offset by the popularity of lower-mileage light-duty trucks and sport utility vehicles, increases in miles traveled per vehicle, and large increases in vehicle ownership. .

Nonetheless, technology-impelled by economic, regulatory, and environmental pressures-has made possible impressive reductions in vehicular emissions of volatile organic compounds and carbon monoxide per mile traveled. Reductions in both by 70-80 percent since 1977 would not have been possible without substantial innovations in, most notably, electronics. Here, the development of sensors that can closely calibrate energy use to demand has meant that both modern engines and industrial motors can be operated much more efficiently. Microcontrollers and digital signal processors also underpin a new generation of auto emissions sensors, which now consume up to 25 percent less energy. Modern autos have 20-90 of these sensors to control their engines precisely. .

Discussions of energy use lead naturally to the question of how it may be affecting the earth’s climate. In the United States, the energy sector accounts for more than 85 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, with energy-related carbon dioxide alone responsible for about 80 percent. Most U.S. greenhouse gas emissions result from the use of coal and petroleum in electricity generation and transportation, respectively. But two newer technologies, fuel cells and small, single-cycle gas turbines-induced by economic and environmental considerations as well as by innovation policy-offer substantial environmental advantages over traditional, large, centralized power plants. Local generation by smaller plants can not only reduce transmission losses, but also improve air quality since they can be fueled by hydrogen and natural gas-much cleaner than coal on a per kilowatt hour basis. If fuel cells become widely adopted in transportation, emissions will plunge there too. .

Adopting such technologies may not be a perfect solution, however, particularly in power generation. Some fuel cell technologies release carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. In addition, small-scale plants serving only residential areas or small businesses may be less able to balance the peaks in demand than are larger plants serving both types of customers.

Water Quality

Air quality and climate change are the dominant, but not the only, environmental issues relating to energy use and production. Industrial and vehicular emissions, particularly of nitrogen oxides, are also detrimental to water quality. Nitrogen deposition acts as a fertilizer and promote the growth of algae in lakes, rivers, and estuaries, creating eutrophic conditions that kill submerged aquatic vegetation. In some places, such as the Chesapeake Bay, eutrophication threatens commercial fishing as well as recreational pursuits.

Even more serious is the agricultural runoff of pesticides, fertilizer, and animal waste. Technology and policy are now beginning to address runoff pollution, but it is hard to measure, much less control, because it stems from widely scattered, “nonpoint” sources.

In the past few years, however, the tools of geographic information systems (GIS) using remotely sensed data have offered new ways to identify and observe these sources. The techniques combine land-use information with hydrology, topography, and soil data to make detailed, digitized maps at very fine scales and measure the potential for runoff. Remote sensing data on actual farming activities, collected by aircraft and satellites, can be combined with the digital maps to provide more accurate and timely monitoring and estimation of runoff. While it may not be possible to trace all the runoff to its original source, it is increasingly possible and cost-effective to trace much of it.

GIS tools have also fostered precision farm practices using real-time, computerized, and detailed information about crop health. Remote sensors on harvesting equipment enable growers to discriminate among rows of crops for irrigating and for applying pesticides and fertilizer, thus increasing crop yields and reducing chemical use. And precision agriculture may have a bright future: information technology sales in the farm sector are now comparable to sales of farm equipment.

Remote sensing technology has also begun to improve the efficiency of municipal water use. Even in the United States, water is priced in a way that encourages wasteful consumption. The problem is compounded in many other countries, particularly in the developing world, because of a lack of infrastructure to meter water use. In Buenos Aires, for example, customers pay for water based on the size of their houses or apartments. The city has recently updated its real estate maps using remotely sensed data. Some hotels had been masquerading as studio apartments and were billed accordingly. While remote sensing has not replaced the need for metering, the new data have at least allowed the city to price water more accurately.

Despite their promise, even GIS and remote sensing technologies are “two-edged” in their environmental implications. The technologies raise some privacy concerns, for instance, that could lead polluters to cloak or hide their polluting activities, further inhibiting pollution monitoring and cleanup. Several legal cases concerning constitutional protections against warrantless searches have been motivated by the use of aerial photography for monitoring environmental compliance, and in more recent cases polluters had attempted to shield their actions from surveillance. Most recently, Midwest farming conglomerates have expressed concern about the public availability of aerial imagery if it is detailed enough to disclose farming practices. Such concerns could lead to curbs on the use of remote sensing for pollution monitoring and regulatory enforcement.

Waste Management

The trade-off between benefits and costs of new developments in biotechnology has made headlines in the case of genetically modified food supplies. Similar concerns surround the technology of bioremediation. Naturally occurring microorganisms have long been used to break down human, agricultural, industrial, and municipal organic wastes. Now, genetically engineered organisms are being used to treat not only industrial effluent, but also wastewater, contaminated soil, and petroleum spills. Bioremediation treats about 5-10 percent of all toxic chemicals and other hazardous waste; has successfully treated oil, gasoline, toluene, naphthalene, pentachlorophenol (a fungicide and wood preservative), and agricultural waste; and is being used at more than 30 munitions test areas across the United States.

Bioremediation can be a particularly cost-effective approach. Most of the costs of traditional cleanup technologies come in removing and disposing of contaminated soil, water, or other materials. Bioremediation requires only delivering the bacteria to the site, not excavating or otherwise disturbing it, thus reducing post-cleanup costs.

These benefits must be balanced against what some critics view as potentially large drawbacks. One concern is that bioremediation may largely immobilize rather than fully remediate contamination. Another is that instead of reverting to its original state, the site will be transformed in some unexpected way. A third concern is that the potential risks of adding genetically altered organisms to the environment, or even redistributing naturally occurring ones, may not be fully understood.

The Information Revolution

The revolution in information technology promises economic changes almost as great as those of the industrial revolution itself. Digital data storage, manipulation, and communication may not appear to have environmental implications, but some examples suggest otherwise. High-speed, high-bandwidth connectivity between our homes and offices may allow us to telecommute; it may also worsen sprawl around metropolitan areas if workers find it increasingly practical to live farther from their work. Whether online shopping replaces visits to the mall or takes place in addition to trips to the dentist and dry cleaners (trips that might have been combined with trips to the mall) will also shape the Internet’s impact on auto travel. Packaging of e-commerce goods for shipping may be more materials- and energy-intensive than store-bought goods. Some controversial studies have even suggested that growth in demand for electricity, driven by new kinds of customers such as computer server warehouses, may have helped overload the electrical grid in northern California last summer. The net effect of new information technologies on energy consumption, land use, and travel has yet to be carefully studied.

From another perspective, as a tool for research and communication about the environment, the Internet appears to hold much promise. For research, it offers online bibliographic search engines, data archives and retrieval systems, rapid exchange of research results with distant colleagues, and software for scientific modeling of complex environmental processes. The Internet has also greatly expanded the public’s access to and awareness of detailed environmental information.

Economic Incentives and Technological Innovation

Realizing the environmental promise of these and other new technologies-that is, exploiting the beneficial side of technology’s dual nature-depends in part on “getting the prices right.” New technology will be better deployed to reduce environmental costs if these costs are recognized. For example, if automobile prices reflected all the environmental costs of tailpipe emissions, auto makers would have stronger incentives to use new pollution control technologies in new car models.

The “social costing” approach to environmental regulation has increasingly come into its own in the United States. For instance, tradable pollution permits-such as for sulfur dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants-have created financial incentives for electricity generators to adopt cleaner production processes. These market-based approaches can be more cost-effective than traditional emissions limits or technology standards, because firms that can reduce emissions most cheaply cut them more than they otherwise would-and then sell their excess permits to firms that cannot. At the same time, the market-based approaches induce innovations by putting a price on emissions and reductions.

The use of such incentive-based approaches is growing not only here, but abroad. International policy discussions on global climate change include taxes on carbon emissions and the use of marketable permits. Similar approaches to getting prices right in managing water quality and waste, as in our examples above, are likely to discourage environmentally harmful uses of these resources and further encourage use of new technologies in managing them.

Information technologies in particular will help expand the scope and effectiveness of incentive-based approaches, for at least four reasons. First, improved remote sensing technologies are making incentive-based regulations, which rely on emissions monitoring, either to enforce compliance or to levy taxes on pollution, more practical. Second, technological advances will help extend these approaches even to “smaller” polluters, possibly including small businesses and individual automobiles. Third, new information technologies are making it possible to fine-tune prices and regulatory programs-for example, by allowing pricing to reflect time of day, congestion, or atmospheric conditions. Finally, in the case of international resource management, remote sensing from space-based satellites may make it easier to monitor environmental compliance across countries.

From the steel towns of yesteryear to today’s wired cities, the interplay of new technology and its environmental effects has indeed been complex. Technology will always be a double-edged sword, but creative use of new economic approaches to environmental management should help blunt its destructive edge and hone its capacity for good.

Michael Wara, Michael Mastrandrea, Eric Macomber

May 22, 2024

Anthony F. Pipa

May 14, 2024

Tedros Adhanom-Ghebreyesus

May 9, 2024

Technology can help us save the planet. But more than anything, we must learn to value nature

"In the first seven months of 2018, we devoured an entire year’s worth of resources." Image:  REUTERS/NASA/Tim Peake/Handout

.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo{-webkit-transition:all 0.15s ease-out;transition:all 0.15s ease-out;cursor:pointer;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;outline:none;color:inherit;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:hover,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-hover]{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:focus,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-focus]{box-shadow:0 0 0 3px rgba(168,203,251,0.5);} Marco Lambertini

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Stay up to date:, future of the environment.

Technology is fundamentally changing the way we live, work, relate to one another and to the external world. The speed, breadth and depth of current breakthroughs has no historical precedent and is disrupting almost every sector in every country. Now more than ever, the advent of new technology has the potential to transform environmental protection.

The hunt for new smarter ways to support our development has always been a key driver of technological advancement. Today as our civilisation faces a new unprecedented challenge, technology can play a crucial role in decoupling development and environmental degradation.

Let’s be clear. No human technology can fully replace ‘nature’s technology’ perfected over hundreds of millions of years in delivering key services to sustain life on Earth. A productive, diverse natural world, and a stable climate have been the foundation of the success of our civilization, and will continue to be so in future. A fundamental issue in previous technological revolutions has been the lightness with which we have taken for granted healthy natural systems like forests, oceans, river basins (all underpinned and maintained by biodiversity) rather than valuing these as a necessary condition to development.

We consume more natural resources than the planet can regenerate

On 1 August, the world hit Earth Overshoot Day, the point in our calendars when we tip into consuming more natural resources than the planet can regenerate in a year.

Global Footprint Network, an international non-profit that calculates how we are managing ― or failing to manage ― the world’s resources, says that in the first seven months of 2018 we devoured a year’s worth of resources, such as water, to produce everything from the food on our plates to the clothes we’re wearing – a new unwanted record.

At present, we are using resources and ecosystem services as though we had 1.7 Earths and such an ecological overshoot is possible only for a limited time before ecosystems begin to degrade and, ultimately, collapse.

As global biodiversity continues to decline steeply, the health and functioning of crucial ecosystems like forests, the ocean, rivers and wetlands will be affected. Coupled with climate change impacts which are evident in warnings from scientists and the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events worldwide; this is going to be disastrous for the ecological balance of the planet and for our survival. Earth Overshoot Day is a stark reminder of the urgent actions individuals, countries and the global community must take to protect forests, oceans, wildlife and freshwater resources and help achieve resilience and sustainable development for all.

We have a critical window of opportunity between now and 2020 to put in place commitments and actions to reverse the trend of nature loss by 2030 and help ensure the health and well-being of people and our planet.

This is not just doom and gloom, the risk is real

The failing of natural systems is not without consequences for us.

Every day new evidence of our unsustainable impact on the environment is emerging. The last five years have been the warmest five-year period on record, the Arctic warmed much faster than predicted and the UN estimates that in the last 10 years, climate-related disasters have caused $1.4 trillion worth of damage worldwide.

In just over 40 years, the world has witnessed 60% decline in wildlife across land, sea and freshwater and is heading towards a shocking decline of two-thirds by 2020 if current trends continue. This has happened in less than a generation. A blink of the eye, compared to the hundreds of millions of years some of these species have lived on our planet.

Forests are under pressure like never before with unabated deforestation and at sea, 90% of the world’s fish stocks are overfished. All indicators point toward our planet being on the brink .

Why does this matter? It matters because we will not build a stable, prosperous and equitable future on a depleted planet.

The ‘battle of technologies’

It is time to focus on the solutions which we know exist or have the potential to be developed and this is where technology, along with behavioural change, can help us reboot the health of our nature and planet.

From the high seas to the depths of the world’s most dense forests, technology can transform how we identify, measure, track and value the many services and resources nature provides us with.

Blockchain to revolutionize the commodity markets

Earlier this year, WWF in Australia, Fiji and New Zealand joined forces to stamp out illegal fishing and slave labour in the tuna fishing industry using blockchain technology . “From bait to plate”, the advances in blockchain technology can help consumers track the entire journey of their tuna – and potentially other agricultural commodities and fish – revolutionizing systems of certification and traceability. We can also use satellite data and cost-effective GPS tracking devices to ‘see’ and understand global fishing and global vessel traffic.

Remote sensing in planning and monitoring

On land as well, remote sensing plays an important role in planning, monitoring, and evaluating impact on the ground. It has enabled WWF to monitor the developments of extractive industries in socially and ecologically-sensitive areas, including World Heritage sites.

We’re also partnering with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) and UCLA to develop an algorithm that enables the detection of deforestation from palm oil expansion using remote sensing data, and we’re exploring the potential to expand this technology to other commodities.

Drones and crowdsourcing help monitor forest health and detect illegal logging

Protecting the world’s forests means ensuring land—in the right places—is protected or restored as well as healthy, providing people and wildlife what they need to survive, like clean air and water, food and jobs. And that’s where drones come in to play, acting as our eyes on the forest. And it’s not just WWF that is using this technology.

WRI (World Research Institute) has developed Global Forest Watch (GFW), an online forest monitoring and alert system that uses crowdsourcing, to allow anyone to create custom maps, analyse forest trends, subscribe to alerts, or download data for their local area or the entire world.

Thermal imaging to combat poaching

Every night, park rangers patrol the pitch-black savanna of Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve. They search for armed poachers who spill across the border from Tanzania to hunt for bush meat and ivory. For years the number of poachers overwhelmed the relatively small cadre of rangers. Technology is now helping to turn the tide. Thermal imaging video cameras enable rangers to catch poachers at record rates and deter many more from even making the attempt.

Beyond direct interventions to stop poaching, WWF also uses technology to go after wildlife traffickers. To that end, we’re working with a coalition of leading e-commerce and social media giants in the US and China to root out the sale of illicit wildlife products on their platforms.

AI to track wildlife

It is hard to think of technology and nature together but even advances like Artificial Intelligence (AI) that could not be further removed from the natural world are helping conservation efforts.

In China, WWF and tech giant Intel are harnessing the power of AI to help protect wild tigers and their habitats, while also protecting countless other species as a result while helping carbon storage, vital watersheds and communities in the area.

An engaged public is critical

As we engage new partners and pursue novel applications of technology, we believe an informed and engaged public is critical to this work and we are constantly looking to make people aware of the challenges facing our planet and what we’re doing to solve them. In 2016, we partnered with Apple to create an Apps for Earth campaign that raised $8 million and educated millions of people around the world about core conservation issues. More recently, we leveraged Apple’s augmented reality tools to launch the “ WWF Free Rivers” app that invites people to experience the importance of free-flowing rivers for nature and for humans, and demonstrates how ill-conceived economic development endangers them both.

The possibilities for technology partnerships to reboot nature are endless. Our challenge now is to scale this work beyond a few test sites and into all of the places we are working to protect the planet. More than technology, we need a fundamental shift in mindset and understanding of the role that nature and biodiversity plans in our lives and businesses .

If we continue to produce, consume and power our lives the way we do right now, forests, oceans and weather systems will be overwhelmed and collapse. Unsustainable agriculture, fisheries, infrastructure projects, mining and energy are leading to unprecedented biodiversity loss and habitat degradation, over-exploitation, pollution and climate change.

While their impacts are increasingly evident in the natural world, the consequences on people are real too. From food and water scarcity to the quality of the air we breathe, the evidence has never been clearer. We are however, in many instances, failing to make the link. Alongside the technological revolution, what we need is an equally unprecedented cultural revolution in the way we connect with the planet.

This article is part of the World Economic Forum’s Fourth Industrial Revolution for the Earth series, which explores how innovative technologies are beginning to transform the way we manage natural resources and address climate change and other environmental challenges caused by industrialization.

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The impact of technology on the environment and how environmental technology could save our planet

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This article takes a look at the paradoxical ideology that while the impact of technology on the environment has been highly negative, the concept of environmental technology could save our planet from the harm that has been done.  This idea is supported by WWF  1 , who have stated that although technology is a solution enabler it is also part of the problem.

The term ‘technology’ refers to the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes and the machinery and devices developed as a result. We are currently living in a period of rapid change, where technological developments are revolutionising the way we live, at the same time as leading us further into the depths of catastrophe in the form of climate change and resource scarcity.

This article will begin by discussing the negative impact of technology on the environment due to the causation of some of the world’s most severe environmental concerns, followed by the potential that it has to save the planet from those same problems. Finally it will explore the particular environmental technology of the gas sensor and discuss how it plays a part in the mitigation of negative environmental consequences.

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.

Water pollution on the other hand is the contamination of water bodies such as lakes, rivers, oceans, and groundwater, usually due to human activities. Some of the most common water pollutants are domestic waste, industrial effluents and insecticides and pesticides. A specific example is the release of inadequately treated wastewater into natural water bodies, which can lead to degradation of aquatic ecosystems. Other detrimental effects include diseases such as typhoid and cholera, eutrophication and the destruction of ecosystems which negatively affects the food chain.

2. Depletion of natural resources

Resource depletion is another negative impact of technology on the environment. It refers to the consumption of a resource faster than it can be replenished. Natural resources consist of those that are in existence without humans having created them and they can be either renewable or non-renewable. There are several types of resource depletion, with the most severe being aquifer depletion, deforestation, mining for fossil fuels and minerals, contamination of resources, soil erosion and overconsumption of resources. These mainly occur as a result of agriculture, mining, water usage and consumption of fossil fuels, all of which have been enabled by advancements in technology.

Due to the increasing global population, levels of natural resource degradation are also increasing. This has resulted in the estimation of the world’s eco-footprint to be one and a half times the ability of the earth to sustainably provide each individual with enough resources that meet their consumption levels. Since the industrial revolution, large-scale mineral and oil exploration has been increasing, causing more and more natural oil and mineral depletion. Combined with advancements in technology, development and research, the exploitation of minerals has become easier and humans are therefore digging deeper to access more which has led to many resources entering into a production decline.

Moreover, the consequence of deforestation has never been more severe, with the World Bank reporting that the net loss of global forest between 1990 and 2015 was 1.3 million km 2 . This is primarily for agricultural reasons but also logging for fuel and making space for residential areas, encouraged by increasing population pressure. Not only does this result in a loss of trees which are important as they remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but thousands of plants and animals lose their natural habitats and have become extinct.

Environmental Technology

Despite the negative impact of technology on environment, a recent rise in global concern for climate change has led to the development of new environmental technology aiming to help solve some of the biggest environmental concerns that we face as a society   through a shift towards a more sustainable, low-carbon economy. Environmental technology is also known as ‘green’ or ‘clean’ technology and refers to the development of new technologies which aim to conserve, monitor or reduce the negative impact of technology on the environment and the consumption of resources.

The Paris agreement, signed in 2016, has obliged almost every country in the world to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change by keeping the rise in the global average temperature at less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

This section will focus on the positive impact of technology on the environment as a result of the development of environmental technology such as renewable energy, ‘smart technology’, electric vehicles and carbon dioxide removal.

• Renewable energy

Renewable energy, also known as ‘clean energy’, is energy that is collected from renewable resources which are naturally replenished such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat. Modern environmental technology has enabled us to capture this naturally occurring energy and convert it into electricity or useful heat through devices such as solar panels, wind and water turbines, which reflects a highly positive impact of technology on the environment.

Having overtaken coal in 2015 to become our second largest generator of electricity, renewable sources currently produce more than 20% of the UK’s electricity, and EU targets means that this is likely to increase to 30% by 2020. While many renewable energy projects are large-scale, renewable technologies are also suited to remote areas and developing countries, where energy is often crucial in human development.

The cost of renewable energy technologies such as solar panels and wind turbines are falling and government investment is on the rise. This has contributed towards the amount of rooftop solar installations in Australia growing from approximately 4,600 households to over 1.6 million between 2007 and 2017.

• Smart technology

Smart home technology uses devices such as linking sensors and other appliances connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) that can be remotely monitored and programmed in order to be as energy efficient as possible and to respond to the needs of the users.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of internet-connected objects able to collect and exchange data using embedded sensor technologies. This data allows devices in the network to autonomously ‘make decisions’ based on real-time information. For example, intelligent lighting systems only illuminate areas that require it and a smart thermostat keeps homes at certain temperatures during certain times of day, therefore reducing wastage.

This environmental technology has been enabled by increased connectivity to the internet as a result of the increase in availability of WiFi, Bluetooth and smart sensors in buildings and cities. Experts are predicting that cities of the future will be places where every car, phone, air conditioner, light and more are interconnected, bringing about the concept of energy efficient ‘smart cities’.

The technology of the internet further demonstrates a positive impact of technology on the environment due to the fact that social media can raise awareness of global issue and worldwide virtual laboratories can be created. Experts from different fields can remotely share their research, experience and ideas in order to come up with improved solutions. In addition, travel is reduced as meetings/communication between friends and families can be done virtually, which reduces pollution from transport emissions.

• Electric vehicles

The environmental technology of the electric vehicle is propelled by one or more electric motors, using energy stored in rechargeable batteries. Since 2008, there has been an increase in the manufacturing of electric vehicles due to the desire to reduce environmental concerns such as air pollution and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Electric vehicles demonstrate a positive impact of technology on the environment because they do not produce carbon emissions, which contribute towards the ‘greenhouse effect’ and leads to global warming. Furthermore, they do not contribute to air pollution, meaning they are cleaner and less harmful to human health, animals, plants, and water.

There have recently been several environmental technology government incentives encouraging plug-in vehicles, tax credits and subsidies to promote the introduction and adoption of electric vehicles. Electric vehicles could potentially be the way forward for a greener society because companies such as Bloomberg have predicted that they could become cheaper than petrol cars by 2024 and according to Nissan, there are now in fact more electric vehicle charging stations in the UK than fuel stations 3 .

• ‘Direct Air Capture’ (DAC) – Environmental Technology removing Carbon from the atmosphere

For a slightly more ambitious technology to conclude with, the idea of pulling carbon dioxide directly out of the atmosphere has been circulating climate change mitigation research for years, however it has only recently been implemented and is still in the early stages of development.

The environmental technology is known as ‘Direct Air Capture’ (DAC) and is the process of capturing carbon dioxide directly from the ambient air and generating a concentrated stream of CO2 for sequestration or utilisation. The air is then pushed through a filter by many large fans, where CO2 is removed. It is thought that this technology can be used to manage emissions from distributed sources, such as exhaust fumes from cars. Full-scale DAC operations are able to absorb the equivalent amount of carbon to the annual emissions of 250,000 average cars.

Many argue that DAC is essential for climate change mitigation and that it can help reach the Paris Climate Agreement goals, as carbon dioxide in the air has been the main cause of the problem after all. However, the high cost of DAC currently means that it is not an option on a large scale and some believe that reliance on this technology would pose a risk as it may reduce emission reduction as people may be under the pretense that all of their emissions will simply be removed.

Although we cannot reverse the negative impact of technology on the environment caused by industrialisation, many believe that new environmental technology, such as renewable energy combined with smart logistics and electric transport, has the potential to bring about the rapid decarbonisation of our economy and the mitigation of further detrimental harm.

How can the environmental technology of Edinburgh Sensors’ Gas Sensor contribute?

Sensors play a huge part in the positive impact of technology on the environment as they often play a vital role in the monitoring and reduction of harmful activities. At Edinburgh Sensors, we produce bespoke gas sensing technology which can be used across a wide range of applications, many of which can be used to mitigate environmental concerns. This article presents just three of these applications; the monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions, the monitoring of methane using an infrared sensor and the detection of gases using a UAV drone.

1. Monitoring of Greenhouse Gas emissions:   https://edinburghsensors.com/news-and-events/measuring-greenhouse-gas-emissions/

Edinburgh Sensors Gascard NG provides high quality, accurate and reliable measurements of CO, CO2 and CH4. To find out how we can assist you with the measurement of greenhouse gas emissions, simply contact us.

2. Using an Infrared Sensor for reliable Methane monitoring:   https://edinburghsensors.com/news-and-events/infrared-sensor-gas-monitoring/

Edinburgh Sensors’ Gascard NG is used for methane detection in a range of research, industrial, and environmental applications including pollution monitoring, agricultural research, chemical processes and many more.

3. Using a UAV drone attached to a gas sensor to measure harmful gases:   https://edinburghsensors.com/news-and-events/uav-drone-methane-monitoring/

From monitoring global warming to tracking the spread of pollution, there are many reasons to use a drone in order to monitor carbon dioxide, methane and other hydrocarbon gas concentrations in remote or dangerous locations.

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Tech We’re Using

Tech’s Environmental Impact and What You Can Do About It

There are many eco-conscious steps to take around your tech, says John Schwartz, a climate reporter. Tech can also help us see the scope of climate change.

Featuring John Schwartz

How do New York Times journalists use technology in their jobs and in their personal lives? John Schwartz , a climate reporter, discussed the tech he’s using.

What does your tech setup look like for work and at home?

It’s pretty messy, and it’s all about the laptop. I use a MacBook Pro that I carry back and forth. At work, The Times gives me a big second monitor and a dongle to charge the phone and tie in the backup drive. At home, I have a desk but do much of my evening research and writing in an easy chair in the living room with the laptop propped up on the chair arm.

More important than the way my system is set up is what I do with it. I have configured my computer system at work so that along with whatever stories I’m dealing with, the big extra monitor shows me a stream of photos of my grandkids, my children and my folks.

It’s no news to readers that the technologies we use can make us jittery, angry and sad. There’s Twitter outrage , Facebook and Instagram FOMO, and the constant nagging of email and Slack. And let’s face it, writing about climate change for a living isn’t exactly cheerful. So that stream of photos brings me little bursts of pleasure throughout my day, a regular lift. Similar images show up on my Apple Watch and iPhone. Why shouldn’t technology bring us joy along with all that angst?

You’re a climate reporter and self-proclaimed Apple lover. Many Apple fans buy every new iPhone every year. Does your knowledge of the environmental impact of yearly upgrades change your tech consumption habits?

I’ve been an Apple guy since buying my first ][+ in 1983. But I’ve never had the money to buy a new machine every year, and that kind of consumerism just isn’t for me, despite my Apple fanboy ways.

I’m cheap. My car is 11 years old, and I’ll drive it until it dies. I wear clothes until they get so ragged that my wife sneaks them over to the donation bin or into the trash. Even though my employer now provides my laptops, I don’t push for the latest and greatest. (I’ve even written a book about reaching financial security .)

So my understanding of the environmental cost of replacing tech hasn’t changed my habits, though it’s definitely a factor people should consider when the tech press starts trumpeting the latest toys.

Buying gadgets or using any kind of online service consumes carbon and energy. In a looming climate crisis, is it possible to be an ethical tech consumer? If so, how should we go about it?

The environmental and climate costs of the technology we use are stunning. But you can minimize your carbon footprint by buying refurbished goods instead of new, holding on to them a bit longer, repairing them instead of replacing them , and resell or recycle so that your old electronic devices are less likely to show up in landfills. I have been very happy with refurbished computers from Apple instead of buying new.

If you want to incorporate ethical sourcing and low waste into your purchasing plans, there are companies like Fairphone, the Dutch social enterprise.

What is some of the most interesting tech being used to monitor climate change?

Science is so wonderfully accessible; some of the most fascinating work is there for you to read for yourself.

All you need is a screen, an internet connection and a browser to see what satellites tell us about the extent of ice loss in Greenland or river levels during spring flood season along the Mississippi River Basin .

You can find out the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at the Keeling Curve site , and the extent to which the planet, or even your state, has warmed at the Ed Hawkins “ Show Your Stripes ” site (or check out this amazingly simple feature that shows you how much your hometown has warmed since you were born).

You can watch Katharine Hayhoe’s amazing “ Global Weirding ” video series or be stunned by the amazing stories about climate change here at The Times.

Outside of your job, what tech products are you personally obsessed with?

For someone who loves technology, I don't have much of it in my house. My wife is a proud Luddite, and doesn’t like tech for tech’s sake; we don’t have Alexa or HomePod or any of the talking gewgaws, no camera at the door. She yanked out all the wires for the security system that came with the house after it kept going off when the power went out.

I’m still semi-Luddite in some ways myself. I was recently visiting my daughter and son-in-law, and my granddaughter asked me to turn on “Aquanauts” for her. I couldn’t even figure out how to turn on the TV. (It required the game controller to choose among the channels and subscription services.) It was a good excuse to read books instead.

Having said that, I love my Apple Watch, which has worked its way into my consciousness in ways I hadn’t expected: It tracks my exercise and lets me see my notifications without having to pull the phone out of my pocket and spend way too much time on my phone.

The unobtrusive tech that gives me the most pleasure is my Jabra earbuds, which I use when I’m running and seem to be just about impervious to sweat. And the camera on my iPhone is my constant companion. I take daily pictures on my morning run and post them to Twitter and Instagram.

There’s been a lot of talk about recycling, but some of it seems futile. Lots of plastics can no longer be recycled. What should we do?

Recycling is great in concept and fraught in practice. Like so many of the personal actions people try to take to address climate change, it can only do so much.

The most effective action on climate has to come from governments through major policy shifts, so the single most important personal action people can take is to vote their principles and work for candidates whose policies they favor — not just at the presidential level, but up and down the line, since even policies at the local level can have an effect on greenhouse gas emissions and the environment.

Does that mean personal action is worthless? Absolutely not. For one thing, it reinforces that save-the-planet state of mind and serves as an example to others. For another, small things add up.

John Schwartz is part of the climate team. Since joining The Times in 2000, he has covered science, law, technology, the space program and more, and has written for almost every section. More about John Schwartz

Technology innovation and sustainability: challenges and research needs

• Published: 12 July 2021
• Volume 23 , pages 1663–1664, ( 2021 )

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Global environmental problems, such as depletion of natural resources, various types of environmental pollution and health risks, climate change, and loss of biodiversity, have become increasingly evident. Societies are more aware of the challenges than ever, and understand more deeply that pursuing sustainability is essential to environmental protection, economic growth, and social stability. Among solution approaches, technology innovation is a key, as it can influence prosperity, consumption pattern, lifestyle, social relation and cultural development. Technology determines, to a great extent, the demand for raw materials and energy, the ways and efficiency of manufacturing, product performance, waste reduction and waste handling, health and safety, transportation and infrastructure, etc., thereby making significant impacts on the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of industrial development. It is more widely recognized that sustainability is a key driver of innovation, and only those companies that make sustainability as a goal will achieve competitive advantage (Nidumolu et al. 2009 ; Kiron et al. 2012 ).

In the U.S., a new wave of technology innovations has arisen, largely due to the national endeavor to advance manufacturing in the thrust areas of national importance. The accelerated innovations entail rapid transfer of new technologies into design and manufacturing of high performance products and services. Although new and emerging technologies have become an engine of change and progress, the net improvement brought to the environment and society could be questionable, if sustainability principles are not fully incorporated into the technology development and application phases. For instance, although introduction of nanomaterials has created new opportunities for high performance applications and novel product introduction, there exist various concerns about negative impacts on health and the environment. Biofuel, as another example, can be converted directly from renewable sources, but its global emergence has led to the debate over the environmental impact, including global warming, due to growing vegetation used for biofuel manufacturing. All these demand thorough examination of economic, environmental and social aspects. Industries are more seriously conducting comprehensive sustainability assessment, and demand more sustainable technologies (Dornfeld 2014 ).

The essential component of industrial sustainability is three-pillar-based balanced development. This requires that technology innovations be shaped to incorporate sustainability principles fully throughout their development and application phases. It is imperative, therefore, to conduct a fundamental study on the sustainability dimensions of technology innovation, and develop systematic methodologies and effective tools for technology inventors, decision makers, and organizations to evaluate and maximize potential sustainability benefits of new and emerging technologies. In this endeavor, sustainability assessment of technology innovation, especially in its early development stage, is critical.

Technology assessment (TA) emerged in the 1970s as a research based policy advising activity. It constitutes a scientific and societal response to problems at the interface between technology and society. In the last decade or so, early engagement in TA occurred mainly in new and emerging products using, for example, nanotechnology and biotechnology (Grunwald 2009 ). Today, TA is considered a designation of approaches and methods for investigating the condition for and consequence of technologies, and for denoting their social evaluation. It is an interactive and communicative process that aims to contribute to the formation of public and political opinion on societal aspects of science and technology. A number of important concepts exist at the uppermost level of TA operationalization, such as participative technology assessment (evaluations participated by scientific experts, societal groups, and political decision makers), constructive technology assessment (constructive involvement of technology development process, aiming to analyze its enculturation by society), leitbild assessment (explanation of the course of technology development ex post rather than by giving indications on how to shape technology), and innovation-orientated technology assessment (analysis of completed and current innovation processes with primary interest in factors that are crucial to successful market penetration). The known methods for conducting TA are basically all derived based on participants’ views, discussions, and group consensus, and applicable to the TA of individual technology rather than a group of them as a whole. However, there is a lack of scientific framework for systematic, integrated assessment of technology innovation in different life cycle stages. More critically, there has been no systematic methods for TA in the triple-bottom-line-based sustainability space; this could lead to the whole spectrum of sustainability performance of technology innovations unclear.

Sustainability assessment (SA) is a very complex appraisal method. It entails not only multidimensional aspects that may be intertwined, but also cultural and value-based elements. There exist numerous types of sustainability indicators for a variety of systems and applications in different fields, and methods for indicator formulation, scaling, normalization, weighting, and aggregation (Singh et al. 2012 ). Studies on assessment information aggregation leads to a creation of composite sustainability performance indices. Sikdar et al. ( 2012 ) stated that it is deemed desirable to consolidate all the usable indicators into one aggregate metric to make performance comparison easier. A main challenge in SA of technology innovation is how to conduct multiple life-cycle-stage based assessment and to compare sustainability performance under different scenarios, especially when the available system information is uncertain, incomplete and imprecise. In almost every phase of sustainability study, data and information uncertainty issues exist. Examples include the data about material or energy utilization, toxic/hazardous waste generation, and market fluctuation, the multifaceted makeup of the inter-entity dynamics, dependencies, and relationships, the prospect of forthcoming environmental policies, and the interrelationship among the triple-bottom-line aspects of sustainability, weighting methods, weights’ values and aggregation methods. In technology innovation, uncertainty could be more severe, as many types of data and information are frequently unavailable and uncertain, and the relevant information from the literature or other sources may not be easily justifiable.

Apparently, an urgent research need is to develop science-driven frameworks for conducting systematic sustainability assessment of emerging technologies in their early development stage and recommending technologies sets after performing multistage sustainability impact evaluation (Huang 2020 ). Such frameworks should be composed of coherent sets of new concepts, propositions, assumptions, principles, and methodologies, as well as tools that could assist researchers, decision makers, and organizations in shaping technology innovations for industrial sustainability. This is certainly a very challenging task, especially when the world experiences major disruptions, such as COVID-19. However, the motivations for achieving industrial sustainable development goals should lead to the development of a new wave of highly sustainable technology innovations in the years to come.

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This work is supported in part by U.S. National Science Foundation (Award No. 2031385 and 1604756).

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Technology over the long run: zoom out to see how dramatically the world can change within a lifetime

It is easy to underestimate how much the world can change within a lifetime. considering how dramatically the world has changed can help us see how different the world could be in a few years or decades..

Technology can change the world in ways that are unimaginable until they happen. Switching on an electric light would have been unimaginable for our medieval ancestors. In their childhood, our grandparents would have struggled to imagine a world connected by smartphones and the Internet.

Similarly, it is hard for us to imagine the arrival of all those technologies that will fundamentally change the world we are used to.

We can remind ourselves that our own future might look very different from the world today by looking back at how rapidly technology has changed our world in the past. That’s what this article is about.

One insight I take away from this long-term perspective is how unusual our time is. Technological change was extremely slow in the past – the technologies that our ancestors got used to in their childhood were still central to their lives in their old age. In stark contrast to those days, we live in a time of extraordinarily fast technological change. For recent generations, it was common for technologies that were unimaginable in their youth to become common later in life.

The long-run perspective on technological change

The big visualization offers a long-term perspective on the history of technology. 1

The timeline begins at the center of the spiral. The first use of stone tools, 3.4 million years ago, marks the beginning of this history of technology. 2 Each turn of the spiral represents 200,000 years of history. It took 2.4 million years – 12 turns of the spiral – for our ancestors to control fire and use it for cooking. 3

To be able to visualize the inventions in the more recent past – the last 12,000 years – I had to unroll the spiral. I needed more space to be able to show when agriculture, writing, and the wheel were invented. During this period, technological change was faster, but it was still relatively slow: several thousand years passed between each of these three inventions.

From 1800 onwards, I stretched out the timeline even further to show the many major inventions that rapidly followed one after the other.

The long-term perspective that this chart provides makes it clear just how unusually fast technological change is in our time.

You can use this visualization to see how technology developed in particular domains. Follow, for example, the history of communication: from writing to paper, to the printing press, to the telegraph, the telephone, the radio, all the way to the Internet and smartphones.

Or follow the rapid development of human flight. In 1903, the Wright brothers took the first flight in human history (they were in the air for less than a minute), and just 66 years later, we landed on the moon. Many people saw both within their lifetimes: the first plane and the moon landing.

This large visualization also highlights the wide range of technology’s impact on our lives. It includes extraordinarily beneficial innovations, such as the vaccine that allowed humanity to eradicate smallpox , and it includes terrible innovations, like the nuclear bombs that endanger the lives of all of us .

What will the next decades bring?

The red timeline reaches up to the present and then continues in green into the future. Many children born today, even without further increases in life expectancy, will live well into the 22nd century.

New vaccines, progress in clean, low-carbon energy, better cancer treatments – a range of future innovations could very much improve our living conditions and the environment around us. But, as I argue in a series of articles , there is one technology that could even more profoundly change our world: artificial intelligence (AI).

One reason why artificial intelligence is such an important innovation is that intelligence is the main driver of innovation itself. This fast-paced technological change could speed up even more if it’s driven not only by humanity’s intelligence but also by artificial intelligence. If this happens, the change currently stretched out over decades might happen within a very brief time span of just a year. Possibly even faster. 4

I think AI technology could have a fundamentally transformative impact on our world. In many ways, it is already changing our world, as I documented in this companion article . As this technology becomes more capable in the years and decades to come, it can give immense power to those who control it (and it poses the risk that it could escape our control entirely).

Such systems might seem hard to imagine today, but AI technology is advancing quickly. Many AI experts believe there is a real chance that human-level artificial intelligence will be developed within the next decades, as I documented in this article .

Technology will continue to change the world – we should all make sure that it changes it for the better

What is familiar to us today – photography, the radio, antibiotics, the Internet, or the International Space Station circling our planet – was unimaginable to our ancestors just a few generations ago. If your great-great-great grandparents could spend a week with you, they would be blown away by your everyday life.

What I take away from this history is that I will likely see technologies in my lifetime that appear unimaginable to me today.

In addition to this trend towards increasingly rapid innovation, there is a second long-run trend. Technology has become increasingly powerful. While our ancestors wielded stone tools, we are building globe-spanning AI systems and technologies that can edit our genes.

Because of the immense power that technology gives those who control it, there is little that is as important as the question of which technologies get developed during our lifetimes. Therefore, I think it is a mistake to leave the question about the future of technology to the technologists. Which technologies are controlled by whom is one of the most important political questions of our time because of the enormous power these technologies convey to those who control them.

We all should strive to gain the knowledge we need to contribute to an intelligent debate about the world we want to live in. To a large part, this means gaining knowledge and wisdom on the question of which technologies we want.

Acknowledgments: I would like to thank my colleagues Hannah Ritchie, Bastian Herre, Natasha Ahuja, Edouard Mathieu, Daniel Bachler, Charlie Giattino, and Pablo Rosado for their helpful comments on drafts of this essay and the visualization. Thanks also to Lizka Vaintrob and Ben Clifford for the conversation that initiated this visualization.

Appendix: About the choice of visualization in this article

The recent speed of technological change makes it difficult to picture the history of technology in one visualization. When you visualize this development on a linear timeline, then most of the timeline is almost empty, while all the action is crammed into the right corner:

In my large visualization here, I tried to avoid this problem and instead show the long history of technology in a way that lets you see when each technological breakthrough happened and how, within the last millennia, there was a continuous acceleration of technological change.

The recent speed of technological change makes it difficult to picture the history of technology in one visualization. In the appendix, I show how this would look if it were linear.

It is, of course, difficult to assess when exactly the first stone tools were used.

The research by McPherron et al. (2010) suggested that it was at least 3.39 million years ago. This is based on two fossilized bones found in Dikika in Ethiopia, which showed “stone-tool cut marks for flesh removal and percussion marks for marrow access”. These marks were interpreted as being caused by meat consumption and provide the first evidence that one of our ancestors, Australopithecus afarensis, used stone tools.

The research by Harmand et al. (2015) provided evidence for stone tool use in today’s Kenya 3.3 million years ago.

References:

McPherron et al. (2010) – Evidence for stone-tool-assisted consumption of animal tissues before 3.39 million years ago at Dikika, Ethiopia . Published in Nature.

Harmand et al. (2015) – 3.3-million-year-old stone tools from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya . Published in Nature.

Evidence for controlled fire use approximately 1 million years ago is provided by Berna et al. (2012) Microstratigraphic evidence of in situ fire in the Acheulean strata of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape province, South Africa , published in PNAS.

The authors write: “The ability to control fire was a crucial turning point in human evolution, but the question of when hominins first developed this ability still remains. Here we show that micromorphological and Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (mFTIR) analyses of intact sediments at the site of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape province, South Africa, provide unambiguous evidence—in the form of burned bone and ashed plant remains—that burning took place in the cave during the early Acheulean occupation, approximately 1.0 Ma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the earliest secure evidence for burning in an archaeological context.”

This is what authors like Holden Karnofsky called ‘Process for Automating Scientific and Technological Advancement’ or PASTA. Some recent developments go in this direction: DeepMind’s AlphaFold helped to make progress on one of the large problems in biology, and they have also developed an AI system that finds new algorithms that are relevant to building a more powerful AI.

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Essay on Impact Of Technology On Environment

Students are often asked to write an essay on Impact Of Technology On Environment in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Impact Of Technology On Environment

Positive effects of technology.

Technology has made life easier and more comfortable. For example, solar panels use the sun’s energy to make electricity. This clean energy reduces pollution from coal plants. Also, electric cars don’t use gasoline, so they don’t release harmful gases into the air.

Negative Effects on Nature

On the other side, technology can harm our planet. Factories making phones and computers produce waste and chemicals that can hurt land and water. Cars and machines using oil release gases that warm our Earth, changing our climate.

Technology in Farming

In farming, technology like tractors and machines helps grow more food. But, using too many chemicals to protect plants can harm the soil and water. We must find a balance to protect our Earth.

Recycling and Saving Resources

Technology helps us recycle things like paper, plastic, and metal. This means we use less from nature. Also, technology like LED lights uses less electricity, which saves energy and helps our planet.

Technology can both help and hurt our environment. It’s important to use technology in a way that keeps our Earth safe and clean for everyone.

250 Words Essay on Impact Of Technology On Environment

Technology and nature.

Technology has changed the way we live. It has given us many good things like computers, smartphones, and medical machines. But it also affects the world around us. When we use technology, it can hurt the air, water, and land.

Using Resources

To make technology, we need to use a lot of materials from the Earth. This includes metals and oil. Taking these out of the ground can harm the land. It can also make the animals that live there lose their homes.

Waste and Pollution

After we use technology, it often becomes waste. Old phones and computers can harm the environment if they are not thrown away the right way. They have chemicals inside that can get into the ground and water. Factories that make technology also put smoke and other bad things into the air. This can make the air dirty and cause illnesses.

Technology needs energy to work. Most of the time, this energy comes from burning coal or gas. This adds to climate change because it puts gases into the air that make the Earth warmer.

Helping the Environment

But it’s not all bad. We also have technology that helps the environment. Solar panels and wind turbines make clean energy. Electric cars don’t pollute as much as cars that use gas. And we have machines that can recycle waste.

In the end, technology can be both good and bad for the environment. We need to think about how we use it and try to find ways to make it less harmful. This way, we can enjoy the benefits of technology without hurting the world around us.

500 Words Essay on Impact Of Technology On Environment

Technology has changed our world in many ways. It has made life easier and more fun. But it also affects the environment, which includes all the natural things around us like air, water, plants, and animals. We use technology to make things, move around, and even to talk to each other from far away. All of this can harm nature if we are not careful.

Factories and Air Pollution

Factories make lots of things we use every day. They make our clothes, toys, and even the phone or computer you might be reading this on. But when factories work, they often make smoke that goes into the air. This smoke can make the air dirty, which is called air pollution. Dirty air is not good for people to breathe, and it can also make it harder for plants and animals to live.

Cars, Buses, and the Air

Cars, buses, and trucks help us get from one place to another quickly. But they also add to air pollution. They burn fuel, like petrol or diesel, and this creates smoke that goes into the air. Too much smoke from vehicles can make the air unhealthy and lead to problems like more asthma attacks in people.

Throwing Things Away

We use a lot of things once and then throw them away. Things like plastic bags, bottles, and wrappers can end up in places they should not be, like the ocean or on the ground. This is bad for the environment because animals can get hurt by this trash, and it can also make the places we live look dirty.

Using Energy

We need energy to do almost everything, like turning on lights, playing video games, or keeping our food cold in the fridge. Most of the energy we use comes from burning coal, oil, or gas. When we burn these things, it can make the air dirty, just like cars and factories do.

Even though technology can harm the environment, it can also help it. We have made new kinds of energy that are cleaner, like solar or wind power. These do not make the air dirty. We also have electric cars that do not need petrol or diesel and do not add smoke to the air.

Recycling and Reusing

Recycling means taking something old and making it into something new. Instead of throwing things away, we can recycle paper, plastic, and metal. This means less trash in the environment and fewer new materials that we need to take from nature. Reusing things is also good. If we use things more than once, like a water bottle, we make less trash.

Technology has both good and bad effects on our environment. It has made some things harder for nature, like making the air dirty and creating trash. But we can use technology to find new ways to help, like making clean energy and recycling. If we are smart about how we use technology, we can take care of the environment and still enjoy all the good things that technology brings to our lives.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Impact Of Technology On Agriculture
• Essay on Impact Of Social Media On Society
• Essay on Impact Of Social Media On Business

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

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Switch on the Christmas lights

Virus-inspired science, openmind books, scientific anniversaries, a loop towards the extinction of species,the other ‘butterfly effect’, featured author, latest book, technologies that can save the environment.

We are living at a critical time, both for humanity and the whole planet. The need to protect and to seek more sustainable formulas for interacting with the environment, became clear at the COP21   climate change conference . The meeting, held in Paris in December 2015, confirmed the importance of fighting against global warming, an effort in which technology and the so-called circular economy will play a key role.

In addition to improving the efficiency of linear production processes, the circular economy  aims to reuse elements that are traditionally considered waste. The goal of this sustainable development strategy is to produce goods and services while reducing raw materials, water and energy consumption and waste. One aspect is the bioeconomy, in which either living organisms or their parts are used to help the environment – which can contribute to our growth. According to European Union calculations, every euro invested in R&D&I in the bioeconomy, funded at community level, will generate ten euros of added value in 2025. This data supports scientific and technical strategies that will not only improve employment figures, but could also help save the environment.

Agriculture, biofuels and energy

The technology applied in agriculture is one great example. The development of improved crops , boosted in recent decades by sufficient scientific evidence to support its usefulness and safety, shows how biotechnology can produce crops which are resistant to climate change. In addition to initiatives such as vitamin A-enriched golden rice , scientists have been able to create other varieties of rice which are resistant to flooding . It is not the only alternative that will allow us to adapt to the changing weather conditions caused by global warming. Recently, the European Union claimed they would support a research study aimed at developing drought-tolerant cereal, which will be directed by a team led by Dr. Ana Cano Delgado from Barcelona’s CRAG-CSIC. Floods, drought and other hazards such as wildfires are some of the problems that climate change will exacerbate, especially in the poorest regions.

The future will not only be marked by our ability to evolve and adapt to change. Among the technologies that will save the environment, electric cars and biofuels play a special role. The term “green cars” is not only restricted to the electric type , but also includes cars that consume less to travel the same distance, hybrid vehicles, and many others. Moving towards a new culture in this industry is essential, since, for example, in the United States alone, car, bus, motorcycle and truck trips cover an annual distance equivalent to making 13,440 round-trips to the Sun, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency .

And while we are still seeking alternatives to conventional vehicles, in order to reduce consumption of oil and fossil fuels, renewable energy is appearing on the horizon as a key pillar of our development. This includes biofuels, an alternative to traditional fuels generated from the biomass of living organisms or their metabolic waste. Research studies today are focusing on taking particular advantag e of crop waste , such as sugar cane or corn, with the aim of promoting the circular economy.

Biotechnology

Biofuel production is a solution that facilitates the use of biotechnology for environmental purposes. But it is not the only one. Environmental disasters such as the sinking of the Exxon-Valdez and the Prestige were the catalyst for scientists to implement pioneering technologies for cleaning oil-contaminated environments. The use of microorganisms for these tasks is calle d bioremediation , and it employs bacteria or fungi to decontaminate waste water from cities. These alternatives show that “living” technology will be crucial in promoting sustainable development.

And in order to ensure sustainability, we should not forget to mention innovation in new materials.  Some of these, such as biomaterials used to “store” carbon dioxide, can help to reduce the greenhouse effect and global warming . Others, such as banana blades, manufactured in Mexico for construction, increase the chance of eliminating toxic compounds such as asbestos, which is related to increased risks of cancer.

Research, as well as scientific and technical innovation, will be critical to saving the environment , reducing the impact of global warming, helping in adapting to climate change, cleaning up polluted areas and taking care of our own health. The examples mentioned above show that science and technology will be better prepared to meet the challenges of the future. In addition, overcoming these challenges will allow us to move towards a different economy, an environment-friendly one that generates qualified employment.

  By Ángela Bernardo (Hipertextual) for OpenMind

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Impact & Role of Technology on the Environment – Essay Sample

Published 16 October, 2023

The advancement of technology continuously affects the environment not only in a positive manner but there are also some negative impacts of technology on development.  The adaptation of technological resources in industries contributes to the high living standards. Continued industrialization results in environmental degradation, especially in developed countries like Ireland. The impact of technology on the environment includes misuse as well as damage to the earth. The students of Ireland can take help from professional writing services for submitting an effective comparative essay.

The effect of technology on the environment is quite significant, which even results in drastic climate changes across the world. There is the extinction of birds, damage in the form of global warming, and a great spread of diseases. The advanced environmental technology makes normal living quite difficult, and there is an urgent need to adopt unique methods to tackle inactive changes. The students who ask to write my essay paper can take help from an expertly written essay sample.

The positive impact of technology on the environment

• Renewable energy

Renewable energy is collected from natural renewable resources like wind, sunlight, waves, rain, and heat. The positive effects of technology in society enable humans to capture naturally occurring energy. Moreover, environmental technology helps in converting energy into useful heat like water turbines, solar panels, and electricity. Furthermore, the cost of renewable energy technologies is falling for its best use.

• Electric vehicles

Modern technology has allowed storing of energy in rechargeable batteries. Due to the rise in air pollution and many other environmental concerns, the demand for electric vehicles is increasing. Electric vehicles do not produce carbon emissions, which lead to global warming, and thus they show a positive impact on the environment. Moreover, the role of science in environmental protection is to prevent human health, plants, water, and animals.

Negative impacts of technology on the environment

• Depletion of natural resources

The depletion of resources means the consumption of a resource faster than it can be refilled. The advancement in technology results in faster consumption of fossil fuels, contamination of natural resources, and deforestation. The misuse of minerals has become more accessible due to which humans have to dig deeper to access more. The bad effects of development on the environment have led to many natural resources entering into production deterioration.

• Environmental pollution

When harmful gases like sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, nitric oxide, and many more get introduced into the earth’s atmosphere, then it leads to air pollution. Factories, burning of fossil fuels, and vehicles are responsible for the excessive release of such gases and thus technology harming the earth. These gases not only affect the environment but harm human health.

Moreover, the release of inefficiently treated wastewater from the industries to natural water bodies results in the degradation of the aquatic ecosystem. Industrial effluents and domestic waste spread various diseases like cholera and typhoid, and even damage the ecosystem.

Example of the impact of technology on the environment essay

Title: How is smart technology beneficial for the environment? Smart technology uses devices connected to IoT, which stands for the Internet of Things and can be programmed remotely. It helps in responding to the needs of the users effectively. The Internet of Things enables humans to collect and exchange data by using linking sensors or embedded sensor technologies. The collected data allows network devices to make decisions based on useful information independently. The internet shows the impact of technology on environmental advantages and disadvantages. It will enable social media to raise awareness of global issues across the world, and experts can create useful steps to treat such matters.

Take an expert-written essay on the impact of technology on the environment in Ireland

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Assessing the Impact of GMOs on Health and the Environment: a Comprehensive Review

This essay about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) discusses their role in addressing global challenges like food scarcity and climate change by improving crop resilience and productivity. It also highlights the controversies and risks associated with GMOs, such as potential health dangers and environmental impacts. The text emphasizes the need for a multidisciplinary approach to evaluate GMOs, stringent regulatory frameworks, and the importance of open dialogue and scientific literacy to make informed decisions about GMO technologies.

How it works

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are at the forefront of agricultural innovation, heralded as a solution to critical global issues like food shortage and climate change. They enhance crop resilience and productivity, potentially increasing food supplies by making plants more resistant to pests and extreme weather, thus reducing the need for chemical pesticides and lessening the ecological burden.

However, the deployment of GMOs is not without its controversies and risks. Critics point to the potential dangers of genetic engineering, such as unexpected allergic reactions, toxicity, and unwanted gene transfer, which raise concerns about the safety of GMOs for consumption.

Environmental concerns also persist, including the possibility of creating superweeds and disrupting natural pollination processes, which could have far-reaching effects on ecosystems.

The evaluation of GMOs involves a comprehensive approach that incorporates multiple disciplines. Extensive scientific research, from molecular biology to public health studies, is vital to understanding how GMOs interact with human health. Environmental studies from a range of fields, including soil science and biodiversity, are equally important to determine the ecological impacts of GMOs.

The regulatory environment for GMOs is complex, with countries varying widely in their management approaches. Some enforce strict regulations and labeling, while others have a more relaxed stance, reflecting differing public opinions and risk assessments. The key challenge is to find an equilibrium that encourages innovation while protecting health and the environment.

Promoting open and transparent dialogue is crucial for progressing with GMO technology. Engaging a broad range of stakeholders—including farmers, consumers, policymakers, and researchers—is key to building trust and achieving a consensus. Additionally, enhancing public understanding of science and encouraging critical thinking are essential to help individuals make informed choices about GMOs based on facts rather than misinformation and fear.

In summary, the issue of GMOs’ impact on health and the environment is complex and requires nuanced discussions. Although GMOs offer significant potential to solve urgent global issues, their risks must be carefully managed. Adopting a comprehensive, scientifically rigorous, and socially inclusive approach will be essential to navigating the future of GMOs in a way that harmonizes innovation with ecological and health safeguards.

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127 Technology Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Technology has become an integral part of our daily lives, shaping the way we communicate, work, and interact with the world around us. As such, it is no surprise that technology has become a popular topic for essays and research papers. If you're struggling to come up with a topic for your next technology essay, fear not! We've compiled a list of 127 technology essay topic ideas and examples to help get your creative juices flowing.

• The impact of social media on society
• The role of artificial intelligence in healthcare
• The future of virtual reality technology
• The ethical implications of gene editing technology
• The rise of remote work and its impact on the workforce
• The benefits and drawbacks of self-driving cars
• The role of technology in education
• The impact of smartphones on mental health
• The potential dangers of deepfake technology
• The benefits of renewable energy technology
• The impact of automation on the job market
• The role of technology in disaster preparedness and response
• The future of space exploration technology
• The impact of 5G technology on communication networks
• The ethics of data mining and surveillance technology
• The impact of biometric technology on security
• The potential of blockchain technology in various industries
• The impact of e-commerce on traditional retail businesses
• The future of wearable technology
• The role of technology in combating climate change
• The implications of quantum computing technology
• The impact of big data on business decision-making
• The benefits and drawbacks of drone technology
• The role of technology in shaping political movements
• The potential of augmented reality technology in education
• The impact of online dating apps on relationships
• The ethics of artificial intelligence in decision-making
• The impact of cybersecurity threats on businesses
• The future of 3D printing technology
• The benefits of telemedicine technology
• The implications of autonomous weapons technology
• The impact of technology on mental health treatment
• The role of technology in disaster recovery efforts
• The future of smart home technology
• The benefits and drawbacks of online learning platforms
• The impact of technology on social relationships
• The ethics of gene editing technology in agriculture
• The potential of virtual reality technology in therapy
• The impact of technology on the music industry
• The role of technology in promoting environmental sustainability
• The implications of artificial intelligence in job automation
• The benefits and drawbacks of cryptocurrency technology
• The future of quantum encryption technology
• The impact of technology on personal privacy
• The role of technology in healthcare data management
• The potential of nanotechnology in medical research
• The ethics of facial recognition technology
• The impact of technology on the entertainment industry
• The benefits and drawbacks of cloud computing technology
• The future of biometric identification technology
• The role of technology in promoting social justice
• The implications of autonomous vehicles in transportation
• The impact of technology on food production and distribution
• The ethics of artificial intelligence in criminal justice
• The potential of blockchain technology in supply chain management
• The benefits and drawbacks of smart city technology
• The future of voice recognition technology
• The impact of technology on the travel industry
• The role of technology in disaster prevention efforts
• The implications of artificial intelligence in creative industries
• The ethics of genetic engineering technology
• The benefits and drawbacks of cloud storage technology
• The future of quantum communication technology
• The impact of technology on online privacy
• The role of technology in improving access to healthcare
• The potential of biometric authentication technology
• The benefits and drawbacks of social media platforms
• The future of artificial intelligence in customer service
• The impact of technology on urban planning and development
• The role of technology in promoting diversity and inclusion
• The implications of autonomous drones in warfare
• The ethics of artificial intelligence in journalism
• The potential of blockchain technology in voting systems
• The benefits and drawbacks of smart grid technology
• The future of virtual assistant technology
• The impact of technology on the gig economy
• The role of technology in promoting financial inclusion
• The implications of artificial intelligence in creative writing
• The ethics of facial recognition technology in law enforcement
• The potential of blockchain technology in healthcare records
• The benefits and drawbacks of smart wearables
• The future of quantum computing in cybersecurity
• The impact of technology on social activism
• The role of technology in improving disaster response times
• The implications of artificial intelligence in art and design
• The ethics of genetic modification technology in agriculture
• The potential of blockchain technology in digital identity
• The benefits and drawbacks of smart transportation systems
• The future of quantum sensors technology
• The impact of technology on online security
• The role of technology in promoting mental wellness
• The implications of artificial intelligence in financial markets
• The ethics of facial recognition technology in public spaces
• The potential of blockchain technology in real estate transactions
• The benefits and drawbacks of smart farming technology
• The future of quantum encryption in data protection
• The impact of technology on workplace productivity
• The role of technology in promoting environmental conservation
• The implications of artificial intelligence in healthcare diagnostics
• The ethics of genetic editing technology in human reproduction
• The potential of blockchain technology in intellectual property rights
• The benefits and drawbacks of smart energy management systems
• The future of quantum computing in scientific research
• The impact of technology on online censorship
• The role of technology in promoting healthy lifestyles
• The implications of artificial intelligence in legal services
• The ethics of facial recognition technology in public safety
• The potential of blockchain technology in cross-border payments
• The benefits and drawbacks of smart manufacturing technology
• The future of quantum communication in secure messaging
• The impact of technology on social inequality
• The role of technology in promoting gender equality
• The implications of artificial intelligence in military operations
• The ethics of genetic engineering technology in human enhancement
• The potential of blockchain technology in digital voting systems
• The benefits and drawbacks of smart water management systems
• The future of quantum sensors in medical diagnostics
• The impact of technology on online addiction
• The role of technology in promoting cultural diversity
• The implications of artificial intelligence in autonomous decision-making
• The ethics of facial recognition technology in immigration control
• The potential of blockchain technology in cryptocurrency regulation
• The benefits and drawbacks of smart waste management systems
• The future of quantum encryption in secure communication
• The impact of technology on social isolation
• The role of technology in promoting global cooperation
• The implications of artificial intelligence in ethical decision-making

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Essay on Environment for Students and Children

500+ words essay on environment.

Essay on Environment – All living things that live on this earth comes under the environment. Whether they live on land or water they are part of the environment. The environment also includes air, water, sunlight, plants, animals, etc.

Moreover, the earth is considered the only planet in the universe that supports life. The environment can be understood as a blanket that keeps life on the planet sage and sound.

Importance of Environment

We truly cannot understand the real worth of the environment. But we can estimate some of its importance that can help us understand its importance. It plays a vital role in keeping living things healthy in the environment.

Likewise, it maintains the ecological balance that will keep check of life on earth. It provides food, shelter, air, and fulfills all the human needs whether big or small.

Moreover, the entire life support of humans depends wholly on the environmental factors. In addition, it also helps in maintaining various life cycles on earth.

Most importantly, our environment is the source of natural beauty and is necessary for maintaining physical and mental health.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Benefits of the Environment

The environment gives us countless benefits that we can’t repay our entire life. As they are connected with the forest, trees, animals, water, and air. The forest and trees filter the air and absorb harmful gases. Plants purify water, reduce the chances of flood maintain natural balance and many others.

Moreover, the environment keeps a close check on the environment and its functioning, It regulates the vital systems that are essential for the ecosystem. Besides, it maintains the culture and quality of life on earth.

The environment regulates various natural cycles that happen daily. These cycles help in maintaining the natural balance between living things and the environment. Disturbance of these things can ultimately affect the life cycle of humans and other living beings.

The environment has helped us and other living beings to flourish and grow from thousands of years. The environment provides us fertile land, water, air, livestock and many essential things for survival.

Cause of Environmental Degradation

Human activities are the major cause of environmental degradation because most of the activities humans do harm the environment in some way. The activities of humans that causes environmental degradation is pollution, defective environmental policies, chemicals, greenhouse gases, global warming, ozone depletion, etc.

All these affect the environment badly. Besides, these the overuse of natural resources will create a situation in the future there will be no resources for consumption. And the most basic necessity of living air will get so polluted that humans have to use bottled oxygen for breathing.

Above all, increasing human activity is exerting more pressure on the surface of the earth which is causing many disasters in an unnatural form. Also, we are using the natural resources at a pace that within a few years they will vanish from the earth. To conclude, we can say that it is the environment that is keeping us alive. Without the blanket of environment, we won’t be able to survive.

Moreover, the environment’s contribution to life cannot be repaid. Besides, still what the environment has done for us, in return we only have damaged and degraded it.

FAQs about Essay on Environment

Q.1 What is the true meaning of the environment?

A.1 The ecosystem that includes all the plants, animals, birds, reptiles, insects, water bodies, fishes, human beings, trees, microorganisms and many more are part of the environment. Besides, all these constitute the environment.

Q.2 What is the three types of the environment?

A.2 The three types of environment includes the physical, social, and cultural environment. Besides, various scientists have defined different types and numbers of environment.

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The future space environment

As our planet becomes increasingly reliant on space, the UK is working to be at the forefront of space protection and sustainability.

Our use of space is rapidly evolving. The National Space Operations Centre (NSpOC) is preparing for the future now to ensure the UK is ready for the challenges and opportunities that await.

Powered by a global network of space sensors and a team of dedicated civilian and military analysts, we protect UK interests in space and on Earth, 365 days a year.  

Why understanding the future of the space environment matters

The orbital landscape is changing rapidly. Launching spacecraft has become considerably more affordable ( there has been a 95% cost reduction from around $65,000/kg to $1,500/kg for heavy launch to Lower Earth Orbit (LEO) ).

Couple this with an ever-increasing reliance on satellite data and it’s easy to understand the boom in human-made objects being launched into our orbital environment. The number of active satellites in orbit, as of April 2024, reached over 9,000 and some reports suggest that by 2030, we could have more than 60,000 active satellites in space .

This graph shows the growth in the number of satellites in orbit since 2000. Data is from OECD The Economics of Space Sustainability 2022 and ESA Space Debris ‘by the numbers’.

Understanding the future of space is critical to planning our response to protect UK interests going forwards which is why we’re now developing our future sensor strategy and Space Domain Awareness (SDA) capability.

The four future scenarios

We commissioned InTandem and Raytheon to support us in developing a sensor and data strategy. As part of the strategy, four scenarios have been developed, using the GO-Science futures toolkit, to predict how the space environment might look over the next 10 years.

The Cosmic Bazaar

Growing private investment creates an environment where companies lead the charge, pursuing their own interests and projects independently pioneering their own projects without being tied to central government regulations. It’s a dynamic ecosystem where competition breeds innovation, leading to breakthroughs at every turn.

Corporate Cosmos

In this scenario, major corporations and private space agencies join forces to explore space together. It’s a unified approach where public and private sectors work hand-in-hand, propelling space exploration forward through collaboration and efficiency.

Nebular Nations

Here, governments take the reins, each pursuing their own space agenda independently. It’s a mosaic of different approaches and capabilities, with limited collaboration between nations. Space becomes a geopolitical playing field, with tensions on Earth translating to actions in orbit.

Global Space Directorate

Picture a world where governments unite to shape the future of space. It’s a coordinated effort where international alliances drive exploration and governance. Space isn’t fragmented; it’s a symphony of global collaboration.

We are working with our international partners to determine what the future of space should be.

The future of space

The future of space is filled with possibilities and by understanding these potential scenarios, NSpOC and its partners can better prepare for what lies ahead, ensuring that we continue to protect UK interests on Earth and in space for years to come.

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How I learned to stop worrying and love fake meat

Let’s stop inventing reasons to reject cultured meat and other protein alternatives that could dramatically cut climate emissions.

• James Temple archive page

Fixing our collective meat problem is one of the trickiest challenges in addressing climate change—and for some baffling reason, the world seems intent on making the task even harder.

The latest example occurred last week, when Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed a law banning the production, sale, and transportation of cultured meat across the Sunshine State. 

“Florida is fighting back against the global elite’s plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish or bugs to achieve their authoritarian goals,” DeSantis seethed in a statement.

Alternative meat and animal products—be they lab-grown or plant-based—offer a far more sustainable path to mass-producing protein than raising animals for milk or slaughter. Yet again and again, politicians, dietitians, and even the press continue to devise ways to portray these products as controversial, suspect, or substandard. No matter how good they taste or how much they might reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, there’s always some new obstacle standing in the way—in this case, Governor DeSantis, wearing a not-at-all-uncomfortable smile.  

The new law clearly has nothing to do with the creeping threat of authoritarianism (though for more on that, do check out his administration’s crusade to ban books about gay penguins). First and foremost it is an act of political pandering, a way to coddle Florida’s sizable cattle industry, which he goes on to mention in the statement.

Cultured meat is seen as a threat to the livestock industry because animals are only minimally involved in its production. Companies grow cells originally extracted from animals in a nutrient broth and then form them into nuggets, patties or fillets. The US Department of Agriculture has already given its blessing to two companies , Upside Foods and Good Meat, to begin selling cultured chicken products to consumers. Israel recently became the first nation to sign off on a beef version.

It’s still hard to say if cultured meat will get good enough and cheap enough anytime soon to meaningfully reduce our dependence on cattle, chicken, pigs, sheep, goats, and other animals for our protein and our dining pleasure. And it’s sure to take years before we can produce it in ways that generate significantly lower emissions than standard livestock practices today.

But there are high hopes it could become a cleaner and less cruel way of producing meat, since it wouldn’t require all the land, food, and energy needed to raise, feed, slaughter, and process animals today. One study found that cultured meat could reduce emissions per kilogram of meat 92% by 2030, even if cattle farming also achieves substantial improvements.

Those sorts of gains are essential if we hope to ease the rising dangers of climate change, because meat, dairy, and cheese production are huge contributors to greenhouse-gas emissions.

DeSantis and politicians in other states that may follow suit, including Alabama and Tennessee, are raising the specter of mandated bug-eating and global-elite string-pulling to turn cultured meat into a cultural issue, and kill the industry in its infancy. 

But, again, it’s always something. I’ve heard a host of other arguments across the political spectrum directed against various alternative protein products, which also include plant-based burgers, cheeses, and milks, or even cricket-derived powders and meal bars . Apparently these meat and dairy alternatives shouldn’t be highly processed, mass-produced, or genetically engineered, nor should they ever be as unhealthy as their animal-based counterparts. 

In effect, we are setting up tests that almost no products can pass, when really all we should ask of alternative proteins is that they be safe, taste good, and cut climate pollution.

The meat of the matter

Here’s the problem. 

Livestock production generates more than 7 billion tons of carbon dioxide, making up 14.5% of the world’s overall climate emissions, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

Beef, milk, and cheese production are, by far, the biggest problems, representing some 65% of the sector’s emissions. We burn down carbon-dense forests to provide cows with lots of grazing land; then they return the favor by burping up staggering amounts of methane, one of the most powerful greenhouse gases. Florida’s cattle population alone, for example, could generate about 180 million pounds of methane every year, as calculated from standard per-animal emissions . 

In an earlier paper , the World Resources Institute noted that in the average US diet, beef contributed 3% of the calories but almost half the climate pollution from food production. (If you want to take a single action that could meaningfully ease your climate footprint, read that sentence again.)

The added challenge is that the world’s population is both growing and becoming richer, which means more people can afford more meat. 

There are ways to address some of the emissions from livestock production without cultured meat or plant-based burgers, including developing supplements that reduce methane burps and encouraging consumers to simply reduce meat consumption. Even just switching from beef to chicken can make a huge difference .

Let’s clear up one matter, though. I can’t imagine a politician in my lifetime, in the US or most of the world, proposing a ban on meat and expecting to survive the next election. So no, dear reader. No one’s coming for your rib eye. If there’s any attack on personal freedoms and economic liberty here, DeSantis is the one waging it by not allowing Floridians to choose for themselves what they want to eat.

But there is a real problem in need of solving. And the grand hope of companies like Beyond Meat, Upside Foods, Miyoko’s Creamery, and dozens of others is that we can develop meat, milk, and cheese alternatives that are akin to EVs: that is to say, products that are good enough to solve the problem without demanding any sacrifice from consumers or requiring government mandates. (Though subsidies always help.)

The good news is the world is making some real progress in developing substitutes that increasingly taste like, look like, and have (with apologies for the snooty term) the “mouthfeel” of the traditional versions, whether they’ve been developed from animal cells or plants. If they catch on and scale up, it could make a real dent in emissions—with the bonus of reducing animal suffering, environmental damage, and the spillover of animal disease into the human population.

The bad news is we can’t seem to take the wins when we get them. 

The blue cheese blues

For lunch last Friday, I swung by the Butcher’s Son Vegan Delicatessen & Bakery in Berkeley, California, and ordered a vegan Buffalo chicken sandwich with a blue cheese on the side that was developed by Climax Foods , also based in Berkeley.

Late last month, it emerged that the product had, improbably, clinched the cheese category in the blind taste tests of the prestigious Good Food awards, as the Washington Post revealed .

Let’s pause here to note that this is a stunning victory for vegan cheeses, a clear sign that we can use plants to produce top-notch artisanal products, indistinguishable even to the refined palates of expert gourmands. If a product is every bit as tasty and satisfying as the original but can be produced without milking methane-burping animals, that’s a big climate win.

But sadly, that’s not where the story ended.

After word leaked out that the blue cheese was a finalist, if not the winner, the Good Food Foundation seems to have added a rule that didn’t exist when the competition began but which disqualified Climax Blue , the Post reported.

I have no special insights into what unfolded behind the scenes. But it reads at least a little as if the competition concocted an excuse to dethrone a vegan cheese that had bested its animal counterparts and left traditionalists aghast. 

That victory might have done wonders to help promote acceptance of the Climax product, if not the wider category. But now the story is the controversy. And that’s a shame. Because the cheese is actually pretty good. 

I’m no professional foodie, but I do have a lifetime of expertise born of stubbornly refusing to eat any salad dressing other than blue cheese. In my own taste test, I can report it looked and tasted like mild blue cheese, which is all it needs to do.

A beef about burgers

Banning a product or changing a cheese contest’s rules after determining the winner are both bad enough. But the reaction to alternative proteins that has left me most befuddled is the media narrative that formed around the latest generation of plant-based burgers soon after they started getting popular a few years ago. Story after story would note, in the tone of a bold truth-teller revealing something new each time: Did you know these newfangled plant-based burgers aren’t actually all that much healthier than the meat variety? 

To which I would scream at my monitor: THAT WAS NEVER THE POINT!

The world has long been perfectly capable of producing plant-based burgers that are better for you, but the problem is that they tend to taste like plants. The actual innovation with the more recent options like Beyond Burger or Impossible Burger is that they look and taste like the real thing but can be produced with a dramatically smaller climate footprint .

That’s a big enough win in itself. 

If I were a health reporter, maybe I’d focus on these issues too. And if health is your personal priority, you should shop for a different plant-based patty (or I might recommend a nice salad, preferably with blue cheese dressing).

But speaking as a climate reporter, expecting a product to ease global warming, taste like a juicy burger, and also be low in salt, fat, and calories is absurd. You may as well ask a startup to conduct sorcery.

More important, making a plant-based burger healthier for us may also come at the cost of having it taste like a burger. Which would make it that much harder to win over consumers beyond the niche of vegetarians and thus have any meaningful impact on emissions. WHICH IS THE POINT!

It’s incredibly difficult to convince consumers to switch brands and change behaviors, even for a product as basic as toothpaste or toilet paper. Food is trickier still, because it’s deeply entwined with local culture, family traditions, festivals and celebrations. Whether we find a novel food product to be yummy or yucky is subjective and highly subject to suggestion. 

And so I’m ending with a plea. Let’s grant ourselves the best shot possible at solving one of the hardest, most urgent problems before us. Treat bans and political posturing with the ridicule they deserve. Reject the argument that any single product must, or can, solve all the problems related to food, health, and the environment.

Climate change and energy

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The human-built habitats shield the pups from predators and the freezing cold, but they’re threatened by global temperature rise.

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The systems, which can store clean energy as heat, were chosen by readers as the 11th Breakthrough Technology of 2024.

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Image credit: Claire Scully

New advances in technology are upending education, from the recent debut of new artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots like ChatGPT to the growing accessibility of virtual-reality tools that expand the boundaries of the classroom. For educators, at the heart of it all is the hope that every learner gets an equal chance to develop the skills they need to succeed. But that promise is not without its pitfalls.

“Technology is a game-changer for education – it offers the prospect of universal access to high-quality learning experiences, and it creates fundamentally new ways of teaching,” said Dan Schwartz, dean of Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE), who is also a professor of educational technology at the GSE and faculty director of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning . “But there are a lot of ways we teach that aren’t great, and a big fear with AI in particular is that we just get more efficient at teaching badly. This is a moment to pay attention, to do things differently.”

For K-12 schools, this year also marks the end of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding program, which has provided pandemic recovery funds that many districts used to invest in educational software and systems. With these funds running out in September 2024, schools are trying to determine their best use of technology as they face the prospect of diminishing resources.

Here, Schwartz and other Stanford education scholars weigh in on some of the technology trends taking center stage in the classroom this year.

AI in the classroom

In 2023, the big story in technology and education was generative AI, following the introduction of ChatGPT and other chatbots that produce text seemingly written by a human in response to a question or prompt. Educators immediately worried that students would use the chatbot to cheat by trying to pass its writing off as their own. As schools move to adopt policies around students’ use of the tool, many are also beginning to explore potential opportunities – for example, to generate reading assignments or coach students during the writing process.

AI can also help automate tasks like grading and lesson planning, freeing teachers to do the human work that drew them into the profession in the first place, said Victor Lee, an associate professor at the GSE and faculty lead for the AI + Education initiative at the Stanford Accelerator for Learning. “I’m heartened to see some movement toward creating AI tools that make teachers’ lives better – not to replace them, but to give them the time to do the work that only teachers are able to do,” he said. “I hope to see more on that front.”

He also emphasized the need to teach students now to begin questioning and critiquing the development and use of AI. “AI is not going away,” said Lee, who is also director of CRAFT (Classroom-Ready Resources about AI for Teaching), which provides free resources to help teach AI literacy to high school students across subject areas. “We need to teach students how to understand and think critically about this technology.”

Immersive environments

The use of immersive technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality is also expected to surge in the classroom, especially as new high-profile devices integrating these realities hit the marketplace in 2024.

The educational possibilities now go beyond putting on a headset and experiencing life in a distant location. With new technologies, students can create their own local interactive 360-degree scenarios, using just a cell phone or inexpensive camera and simple online tools.

“This is an area that’s really going to explode over the next couple of years,” said Kristen Pilner Blair, director of research for the Digital Learning initiative at the Stanford Accelerator for Learning, which runs a program exploring the use of virtual field trips to promote learning. “Students can learn about the effects of climate change, say, by virtually experiencing the impact on a particular environment. But they can also become creators, documenting and sharing immersive media that shows the effects where they live.”

Integrating AI into virtual simulations could also soon take the experience to another level, Schwartz said. “If your VR experience brings me to a redwood tree, you could have a window pop up that allows me to ask questions about the tree, and AI can deliver the answers.”

Gamification

Another trend expected to intensify this year is the gamification of learning activities, often featuring dynamic videos with interactive elements to engage and hold students’ attention.

“Gamification is a good motivator, because one key aspect is reward, which is very powerful,” said Schwartz. The downside? Rewards are specific to the activity at hand, which may not extend to learning more generally. “If I get rewarded for doing math in a space-age video game, it doesn’t mean I’m going to be motivated to do math anywhere else.”

Gamification sometimes tries to make “chocolate-covered broccoli,” Schwartz said, by adding art and rewards to make speeded response tasks involving single-answer, factual questions more fun. He hopes to see more creative play patterns that give students points for rethinking an approach or adapting their strategy, rather than only rewarding them for quickly producing a correct response.

Data-gathering and analysis

The growing use of technology in schools is producing massive amounts of data on students’ activities in the classroom and online. “We’re now able to capture moment-to-moment data, every keystroke a kid makes,” said Schwartz – data that can reveal areas of struggle and different learning opportunities, from solving a math problem to approaching a writing assignment.

But outside of research settings, he said, that type of granular data – now owned by tech companies – is more likely used to refine the design of the software than to provide teachers with actionable information.

The promise of personalized learning is being able to generate content aligned with students’ interests and skill levels, and making lessons more accessible for multilingual learners and students with disabilities. Realizing that promise requires that educators can make sense of the data that’s being collected, said Schwartz – and while advances in AI are making it easier to identify patterns and findings, the data also needs to be in a system and form educators can access and analyze for decision-making. Developing a usable infrastructure for that data, Schwartz said, is an important next step.

With the accumulation of student data comes privacy concerns: How is the data being collected? Are there regulations or guidelines around its use in decision-making? What steps are being taken to prevent unauthorized access? In 2023 K-12 schools experienced a rise in cyberattacks, underscoring the need to implement strong systems to safeguard student data.

Technology is “requiring people to check their assumptions about education,” said Schwartz, noting that AI in particular is very efficient at replicating biases and automating the way things have been done in the past, including poor models of instruction. “But it’s also opening up new possibilities for students producing material, and for being able to identify children who are not average so we can customize toward them. It’s an opportunity to think of entirely new ways of teaching – this is the path I hope to see.”

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3 Questions: Technology roadmapping in teaching and industry

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Innovation is rarely accidental. Behind every new invention and product, including the device you are using to read this story, is years of research, investment, and planning. Organizations that want to reach these milestones in the fastest and most efficient way possible use technology roadmaps.  

Olivier de Weck , the Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics and professor of engineering systems, taps into his expertise in systems design and engineering to help company leaders develop their own path to progress. His work has led to an MIT graduate course, two MIT Professional Education classes, and the textbook " Technology Roadmapping and Development: A Quantitative Approach to the Management of Technology ." Recently, his textbook was honored with the Most Promising New Textbook Award from the Textbook and Academic Authors Association. The textbook not only serves as a guide to students but also to company leaders. Aerospace design and manufacturer Airbus, defense technology laboratory Draper, and package delivery giant UPS have implemented de Weck’s methods. Here, De Weck describes the value of technology roadmapping. 

Q: What is technology roadmapping, and why is it important?

A: A technology roadmap is a planning tool. It connects current products, services, and missions to future endeavors, and identifies the specific technologies needed to achieve them. 

Let’s say an organization wants to build a spacecraft to explore an asteroid in the farthest reaches of our solar system. It will need a new kind of electric thruster technology so that it can travel to the asteroid faster and more efficiently than what is currently possible. A technology roadmap details several factors, such as the level of performance needed to meet the goal and how to measure progress. The guide also links various responsibilities within an organization, including strategy, product development, research and development (R&D), and finance, so everyone understands the technologies that are being funded and how they will benefit the company. 

Technology roadmapping has been in use for over five decades. For a long time, it was taught in business schools in a more general and qualitative way, but the practice has evolved over the years. The technology roadmapping I teach and write about uses quantitative engineering analysis and connects it to strategic thinking. From 2017 to 2018, I used and refined this approach for Airbus, which has a $1 billion R&D budget. Together, we developed over 40 technology roadmaps, which included a plan to build ZEROe, a commercial aircraft that will run on hydrogen fuel, by 2035. 

Q: Are technology roadmaps used widely in industry today, and what gaps in knowledge/processes does your approach address?   

A: Colleagues from the University of Cambridge and the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany and I recently conducted an industry-wide survey about technology roadmapping. Of the 200 companies that participated, 62 percent said they use technology roadmaps to make strategic investment decisions and 32 percent update them yearly. Yet only 11 percent of firms plan technologies 10 years out. This is a bit concerning because technology does not move as fast as many people believe. Using Airbus’s ZEROe aircraft as an example, it is important to think 10 or even 20 years ahead, not just within three to five years. 

My approach to technology roadmapping uses a method I call Advanced Technology Roadmap Architecture (ATRA). It provides a step-by-step methodology to create a technology roadmap that is more rigorous and has a longer time horizon than traditional roadmaps. ATRA asks four essential questions: Where are we today, where could we go, where should we go, and where we are going? Instead of technologies, I want people to think of these questions as a guide to their retirement investing. You could invest in some high-risk mutual funds, low-risk bonds, or an index fund that will follow the market. You would pick investments that reflect your future goals and risk tolerances. ATRA works in the same way. It enables organizations to select the right mix of R&D based on different scenarios and different risk tolerances. 

Q: Can you share how you designed your book and the courses, including 16.887/EM.427, to help students understand and apply technology roadmapping?   

A: My time at Airbus allowed me to implement and battle-test technology roadmapping and ATRA. When I returned to MIT in 2019, I had already drafted chapters of the book and MIT students provided great feedback, which allowed me to refine and improve the book to the point where it would be useful and understandable to future MIT engineering and business students, industry practitioners, and C-level executives. 

An important feature of both my textbook and class that may not be obvious is my focus on history. With innovation moving as fast as it is, it is easy to claim a never-been-done-before technology. That is often not the case — for example, one student did a technology roadmap of virtual reality headsets. He realized that people were doing virtual reality in the 1960s and 70s. It was super crude, clunky, and the resolution was poor. Still, there is a 60-year history that needs to be understood and acknowledged. My students and I have created a library of nearly 100 roadmaps on wide-ranging technologies, including superconducting nuclear fusion, lab-grown meat, and bioplastics. Each one traces an innovation’s history.

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In 2023, Google awarded a total of US$10 million to researchers who found vulnerabilities in its products. Why? Because allowing errors to go undetected could be much costlier. Data breaches could lead to refund claims, reduced customer trust or legal liability.

It’s not just private technology companies that invest in such ‘bug bounty’ programmes. Between 2016 and 2021, the US Department of Defense awarded more than US$650,000 to people who found weaknesses in its networks .

Just as many industries devote hefty funding to incentivizing people to find and report bugs and glitches, so the science community should reward the detection and correction of errors in the scientific literature. In our industry, too, the costs of undetected errors are staggering.

Retractions are increasing, but not enough

That’s why I have joined with meta-scientist Ian Hussey at the University of Bern and psychologist Ruben Arslan at Leipzig University in Germany to pilot a bug-bounty programme for science, funded by the University of Bern. Our project, Estimating the Reliability and Robustness of Research (ERROR), pays specialists to check highly cited published papers, starting with the social and behavioural sciences (see go.nature.com/4bmlvkj ). Our reviewers are paid a base rate of up to 1,000 Swiss francs (around US$1,100) for each paper they check, and a bonus for any errors they find. The bigger the error, the greater the reward — up to a maximum of 2,500 francs.

Authors who let us scrutinize their papers are compensated, too: 250 francs to cover the work needed to prepare files or answer reviewer queries, and a bonus 250 francs if no errors (or only minor ones) are found in their work.

ERROR launched in February and will run for at least four years. So far, we have sent out almost 60 invitations, and 13 sets of authors have agreed to have their papers assessed. One review has been completed , revealing minor errors.

I hope that the project will demonstrate the value of systematic processes to detect errors in published research. I am convinced that such systems are needed, because current checks are insufficient.

Structure peer review to make it more robust

Unpaid peer reviewers are overburdened , and have little incentive to painstakingly examine survey responses, comb through lists of DNA sequences or cell lines, or go through computer code line by line. Mistakes frequently slip through. And researchers have little to gain personally from sifting through published papers looking for errors. There is no financial compensation for highlighting errors , and doing so can see people marked out as troublemakers.

Yet failing to keep abreast of this issue comes at a huge cost. Imagine a single PhD student building their work on an erroneous finding. In Switzerland, their cumulative salary alone will run to six figures. Flawed research that is translated into health care, policymaking or engineering can harm people. And there are opportunity costs — for every grant awarded to a project unknowingly building on errors, another project is not pursued.

Like technology companies, stakeholders in science must realize that making error detection and correction part of the scientific landscape is a sound investment.

Funders, for instance, have a vested interest in ensuring that the money that they distribute as grants is not wasted. Publishers stand to improve their reputations by ensuring that some of their resources are spent on quality management. And, by supporting these endeavours, scientific associations could help to foster a culture in which acknowledgement of errors is considered normal — or even commendable — and not a mark of shame.

How ‘research impact bonds’ could transform science funding

I know that ERROR is a bold experiment. Some researchers might have qualms. I’ve been asked whether reviewers might exaggerate the gravity of errors in pursuit of a large bug bounty, or attempt to smear a colleague they dislike. It’s possible, but hyperbole would be a gamble, given that all reviewer reports are published on our website and are not anonymized. And we guard against exaggeration. A ‘recommender’ from among ERROR’s staff and advisory board members — none of whom receive a bounty — acts as an intermediary, weighing up reviewer findings and author responses before deciding on the payout.

Another fair criticism is that ERROR’s paper selection will be biased. The ERROR team picks papers that are highly cited and checks them only if the authors agree to it. Authors who suspect their work might not withstand scrutiny could be less likely to opt in. But selecting papers at random would introduce a different bias, because we would be able to assess only those for which some minimal amount of data and code was freely available. And we’d spend precious resources checking some low-impact papers that only a few people build research on.

My goal is not to prove that a bug-bounty programme is the best mechanism for correcting errors, or that it is applicable to all science. Rather, I want to start a conversation about the need for dedicated investment in error detection and correction. There are alternatives to bug bounties — for instance, making error detection its own viable career path and hiring full-time scientific staff to check each institute’s papers. Of course, care would be needed to ensure that such schemes benefited researchers around the world equally.

Scholars can’t expect errors to go away by themselves. Science can be self-correcting — but only if we invest in making it so.

Nature 629 , 730 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01465-y

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The author declares no competing interests.

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World Economic Situation and Prospects 2024

Global economic growth is projected to slow from an estimated 2.7 per cent in 2023 to 2.4 per cent in 2024, trending below the pre-pandemic growth rate of 3.0 per cent, according to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2024. This latest forecast comes on the heels of global economic performance exceeding expectations in 2023. However, last year’s stronger-than-expected GDP growth masked short-term risks and structural vulnerabilities. 

The UN’s flagship economic report presents a sombre economic outlook for the near term. Persistently high interest rates, further escalation of conflicts, sluggish international trade, and increasing climate disasters, pose significant challenges to global growth.

The prospects of a prolonged period of tighter credit conditions and higher borrowing costs present strong headwinds for a world economy saddled with debt, while in need of more investments to resuscitate growth, fight climate change and accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“2024 must be the year when we break out of this quagmire. By unlocking big, bold investments we can drive sustainable development and climate action, and put the global economy on a stronger growth path for all,” said António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General. “We must build on the progress made in the past year towards an SDG Stimulus of at least $500 billion per year in affordable long-term financing for investments in sustainable development and climate action.”

Subdued growth in developed and developing economies Growth in several large, developed economies, especially the United States, is projected to decelerate in 2024 given high interest rates, slowing consumer spending and weaker labour markets. The short-term growth prospects for many developing countries – particularly in East Asia, Western Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean – are also deteriorating because of tighter financial conditions, shrinking fiscal space and sluggish external demand. Low-income and vulnerable economies are facing increasing balance-of-payments pressures and debt sustainability risks. Economic prospects for small island developing States, in particular, will be constrained by heavy debt burdens, high interest rates and increasing climate-related vulnerabilities, which threaten to undermine, and in some cases, even reverse gains made on the SDGs.

Inflation trending down but recovery in labour markets still uneven Global inflation is projected to decline further, from an estimated 5.7 per cent in 2023 to 3.9 per cent in 2024. Price pressures are, however, still elevated in many countries and any further escalation of geopolitical conflicts risks renewed increases in inflation. 

In about a quarter of all developing countries, annual inflation is projected to exceed 10 per cent in 2024, the report highlights. Since January 2021, consumer prices in developing economies have increased by a cumulative 21.1 per cent, significantly eroding the economic gains made following the COVID-19 recovery. Amid supply-side disruptions, conflicts and extreme weather events, local food price inflation remained high in many developing economies, disproportionately affecting the poorest households. 

“Persistently high inflation has further set back progress in poverty eradication, with especially severe impacts in the least developed countries,” said Li Junhua, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs. “It is absolutely imperative that we strengthen global cooperation and the multilateral trading system, reform development finance, address debt challenges and scale up climate financing to help vulnerable countries accelerate towards a path of sustainable and inclusive growth.”

According to the report, the global labour markets have seen an uneven recovery from the pandemic crisis. In developed economies, labour markets have remained resilient despite a slowdown in growth. However, in many developing countries, particularly in Western Asia and Africa, key employment indicators, including unemployment rates, are yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. The global gender employment gap remains high, and gender pay gaps not only persist but have even widened in some occupations.   

Related Sustainable Development Goals

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