“ I fear the day technology will surpass our human interaction . The world will have a generation of idiots ” – Albert Einstein.“Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.” – R. Buckminster Fuller
The two very appropriate statements are given by the two well – known personalities of the world about the negative impact of Technology . According to them the excessive use of technology by human will make them behave foolishly and so they are using it for the wrong reasons maximally. Technology is an inevitable part of our daily life. Nowadays, the level of development of a nation is being measured by the level of it’s digitalization. The more the digitalization , more is the development . Digital Devices are not only helping the humans but they are also helpful for the environment. But as rightly said by famous author “ Mark Twain – Too much of anything is bad ” , so we have to maintain proper balance while doing anything . This should be true also for the use of digital devices , excessive use of the digital devices like smart-phone , computer etc. is producing a severe negative effect on the environment and as well as on the physical and mental health of the human . Different types of e – wastes generated due to digital devices creates a serious threat to environment . Thus we have to reduce our usage of digital devices and recent social media networks like face-book , whats-app , twitter etc. for correctly maintaining our environment and human’s mental and physical health for our proper sustainable development .
Some of the positive impacts of Digital Devices and Technology are given below
- · It helps us develop and create new materials and technologies that are sustainable and harmless for the environment.
- · It allows us to monitor and study our environment properly.
- · It helps us develop advanced technologies that respond to how we are using them and they adjust themselves to reduce their environmental impact, such as lights switch off automatically when no one is there in the room.
- · It provides us to have a worldwide virtual laboratory so that experts from various fields can share their research ideas and experiences to come up with a better, and smarter solutions. Not only does this it allows people far away from each other to work together, but it also reduces the environmental impact people would generally cause from travelling to meet with each other.
- · It allows for paperless communication like email and online bill paying to reduce the amount of cutting down of trees.
- · It allows different companies to minimize shipping and manufacturing impact and to reach a larger audience.
- Most of the times people become so excited about using a new technology that they overlook the negative impact of it on the environment. But, it’s really very important to use technology in the smartest and most responsible manner, so that we it will not create problems for the future.
Impact of Digital Devices on the Environment and on the health of the Humans and other living organisms
Most of the digital devices that we are using on a daily basis require a lot more resources and power than they need to, and using and manufacturing them can create confusion and problem. The harmful effects caused by those digital devices are given below :
1. Pollution – Different types of air, water, land and noise pollution can all be caused by producing and using technology
2. Depletion of the non – renewable and renewable natural resources – Non-renewable resources like gold are used to make technology; coal, are consumed to generate the electricity to use technology. Even some renewable resources, like trees and water, are becoming contaminated or are used up faster than they can renew themselves because of technology.
3. Formation of electronic waste or e-waste or techno- trash – Electronic waste (e-waste) or techno trash is the remains of our discarded mobile phones, computers, tablets and mp3 players. It is expected that more than two-thirds of heavy metals in landfills come from electronic waste.
4. Disturbing ecology – Cutting down of forests and trees where animals used to live for building factories and allowing pollution to contaminate the food chain can greatly affect the natural cycle of the environment.
5. Health problems – E- wastes produce toxic materials that can harm our health by causing cancer, and technology addiction can lead to other health problems like obesity and carpal tunnel syndrome etc.
6. Climate change and Global Warming – The effect of technology on the environment is so vast and it creates drastic climate changes around the world, causing global warming. The summers are getting super hot while the winters are getting very chill. Even, the cold countries are experiencing less cold while hot is experiencing colder and vice-versa
7. Extinction of birds, plants and other wildlife animals – There is damage in the form of global warming, extinction of birds, plants and other animals .
8. Carbon emissions – Generally carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, are called the Greenhouse Gasses which are being produced by people. Greenhouse gasses are the gasses in the atmosphere that trap and reflect heat and radiation back to the planet’s surface. Carbon emissions occurs from things like cars, air planes, power plants and factories. It also get released by people like us, when we use a vehicle or electricity created from burning of fossil fuels. The computer that we are using to read this is also using electricity, and so is our mobile device .
9. Causing disease – Due to the brightness of the digital devices and the radiations coming from those devices , most the individuals are suffering from eye problem .The effect of electromagnetic waves on human brains causes tumor and cancer ; the excessive use of handheld device creates pain in human’s upper extremities, back, and neck. The WHO/International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has declared radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” which is related with the wireless phone use. Again the technotrash which is being thrown on land forming landfill , causes diseases because it is made up of non – biodegradable and toxic materials like cadmium , mercury , lead etc. With the passing time, these toxic materials can leak into the ground, where they contaminate the drinking water, the plants we eat and the animals that live around the area. These toxic materials cause all kinds of bad effects including nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and even cancer. According to the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health at Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi, recyclers and dismantlers have recorded dangerously high levels of lead, mercury and chromium in their bodies. These toxic chemicals significantly damage their respiratory, urinary and digestive systems, as well as degrade their immune system and may cause tumor and cancer.
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