Introduction
Technology has become a dormant part of everyone’s life from a three year old child to an eighty year old man. There is no time or place in our day where technology does not play a role. The sedentary lifestyle lead by the world today has not only greatly harmed them but also the environment in which we live in. The known current status of the environment surrounding us has directly connected many scholars and environmentalists into the understanding that, people’s negative usage of technology has caused irreparable damage to the environment. Technology has undoubtedly translated into a medium for the destruction of our environment through human exploitation, but the question of being done away with technology is still a subject not every environmentalist sees eye to eye with. Despite many being of the opinion about technology being more of a curse than a blessing, if understood from a deeper perspective it is said and believed that technology singularly is not harmful but what makes it, is the incorrect usage of it by humans. It is suggested that the right employment of technology can perhaps save the environment since the pros if applied rationally can outweigh the cons of the same. The argument of the paper would be concerned with the belief about technology with respect to the environment being a curse as sound, but the possibility of the value-neutrality of technology in itself by being put to right use can serve the environment, as sounder.
Technology – A curse to the environment
Technology misuse and its wrong implementation leads to the occurrence of environmental pollution. There has been a significant rise in the production of machines and automobiles as there has been a rise in demand which facilitates increased consumption thereby triggering increased supply of the products that have a major hand in industrialisation with respect to improved technology. Constant developments in technology led to the Industrial Revolution which resulted in a better quality of life and hence, in order to satisfy the human through the mode of technological development and industrialisation has led to an adverse effect on the environment since it caused an atrocious level of pollution due to the increased desirability of technology by humans. Despite the advent of technology revolutionizing all aspects of a human’s life, it has nevertheless left the environment at the bearing end of the brunt of it. It is imperative to study the negative impacts of technology and the causatives that have proved to be the result of environmental dilapidation on a further detailed note. The major constituent of degradation of the environment is the sign of an increase in global warming. It has been noted by the scientists that from the beginning of the century the temperature of the mean surface level of the Earth has been at an all-time high at an increase of 0.8 degree Celsius. It was reported by professor Brian Hoskins that the CO2 level have been the highest in about 4.5 million years with the primary constituent for the same being fossil fuels burning and deforestation being another cause for an increase for global warming. Nitrogen oxides and other forms of gaseous emissions from industries and emissions from vehicles are major causes that lead to poor water quality. The reason for the toxicity rise in water bodies is because nitrogen deposits act like fertilizer in water that boosts the formation of algae which in turn is detrimental to the quality of water as it blocks the oxygen for the aquatic life and creates a eutrophic condition for them which slowly destroys them. Another reason for poor water quality is the runoff of pesticides and plant food from farms into the water, polluting it and thereby making it an unfit environment for aquatic lives to survive. Technology has been known to have a direct hand in the rampant increase in air pollution since humans began to travel more with the level of technological advancements. The pollutants released from these travel mediums is huge and also leads to a rise in health hazards. The main pollutants include ozone, lead, nitrogen and carbon monoxide which is generated by burning of fossil fuels. According to studies, due to the rise in pollution level in the States, almost 1. 5 million Americans fall sick due to toxic gases in the air.[iii] There is an increased amount of waste which is one way or another connected with the usage of technology for example in India a lot of the waste comes from drilling activities which is a technologically driven process. There is an increase in the power consumption which according to Bisong, the potential energy is currently being exhausted at ten times the rate and since mostly technologies are run by electricity, it makes the exhaustion of non-renewable fossil fuels faster which is higher use of technology tantamount leading to high depletion of energy available.[iv] Another major quarter of world environment loss is constituted by deforestation where humans are mindlessly clearing out forests to expand cities and due to the usage of technologies are wiping out trees in a short span of time which has led to the extinction of a lot of species and is also a reason why there is an extreme climate change present in the world.[v] Technological products like Phones and Tablets have become indispensable to mankind, this leads to an increase in WiFi and internet connectivity which results in high radiation generation and invariable health problems associated with it which has also caused an extinction of birds due to radiation in the atmosphere.
Natural and cultural dichotomy
This entire concept is driven by the idea of supposing cultural products such as technology in question being lesser than nature. To further elaborate, It is a common belief that culture is opposed to nature and hinges on the implication that technology is thus reduced and its value is challenged. It is believed that the environment is valued most in its natural pristine self and the addition of technology is inevitably going to lower the essence of nature. Any form of nature presented through the medium of technology or any natural beauty created artificially by technology is bound to be lower than nature in its truest form. So, since a technologically induced environment is deemed inferior to real nature it is suggested that technology cannot save nature and can only artificially create another dimension of the same.
Technology- Potential to save the environment
The arguments that emphasize the dichotomy between cultural and natural may not be challenged but questioned with respect to environment restoration since the argument can be valid in a condition where humans are assumed to be separate from nature. This assumption would perhaps be an incorrect take on the subject since humans are by products of nature and with the suggested argument the advancement of technology should not be opposed to nature since humans have themselves created technology which would make it wrong to identify it as unnatural and therefore, technologically restored environment should not be viewed lower than the traditional sense of nature. Although, for the sake of this paper, since there are presentably two contrasting opinions for the same, it is fair to say that technology isn’t negative or positive but neutral. Scientists have proposed technology as a medium through which the environment can be sincerely helped if directed positively. The techniques used for birth control is considered to be a positive outcome of technology since over population is one of the most pressing issues globally.[vii] Another technological concept of geoengineering has attempted to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and neutralise the harmful effects of toxic gases by helping the earth to absorb less radiation. The implementation of bioremediation is a discovery that uses microorganisms to remove pollutants in the sense to decrease the toxicity of metals in soil or water. In the Brundtland Commission report Our Common Future, poverty as a major cause of pollution was discussed about and with technology the poor who relied on charcoal for cooking which led to deforestation has been curbed through availability of jobs and recycling has been practiced.[viii] The most significant advantage of technology has been the internet which helps people connect globally which leads to free flow of information and increased awareness of knowledge.[ix]
Conclusion
Technology may not be able to fix all environmental issues but it invariably can contribute to its betterment when channelised correctly. The reason why the environment is in such bad shape is due to the wrong implementation and practice of technology. Climate changes, global warming and pollution are influenced not by technology but the mismanagement of it. It is concluded that uncontrollable and unauthorised usage of technology impacts the environment negatively but if targeted rightly has the capability and the potential to restore the environment. Therefore, it is the use of technology that determines the positive or negative impact and the aim should be to position technology in a way where the current health of the environment which surrounds us is cured and emphatically reinstituted.
