Technology and Environment

Introduction

Noticeable advancements are being made to the technology in this modern world. There exist certain pros and cons regarding the involvement of such technology in our normal life. The way this technology is being implemented, it does far more damage to human life than good. For technical people, these changes in technology mean the evolution from dependency to independence. Speed and efficiency are two things that modern technology is all about. The applications of modern technology have become a significant part of our day-to-day life. From Ultra HD Televisions to the Uber app, from smart phones to all the virtual reality gadgets, from social media applications to the evolving health-related technologies; the science has brought certain easiness into one’s life, nonetheless; it promises that the best is yet to come.

Objectives

This paper is bound to cover certain aspects of modern technology on human life and our society.

• The impacts of technology in various sectors of life.
• Certain advantages that technology brings to all of these sectors of one’s life; either it is in the health-care sector, means of communication or in our daily life.
• The negative effects of technology on the environment and other sectors of human life.
• The use and implementation of technology in such a way that the negative effects can be minimized.

Impacts of Technology

The paper will cover some of the potential effects of modern technology and its use. It is supposed to shed light upon the environmental impacts as well as the health, social and cultural and global impacts of technology. Technology has also made many contributions is revolutionizing the agriculture sector. Every department of human life is enjoying the benefits that science has brought into our lives in the form of various applications. In spite of that, these tech devices also exhibit certain side effects that can be harmful to one’s health or the overall environment.

Technology and Human Healthcare Environment

Countless lives have been saved, and numerous diseases have been cured through amazing technological developments. Technology has contributed a lot to improving the quality of human life. Not only have the environments of the hospitals and the experiences of patients been changed due to it, but also, it has revolutionized the processes of medical treatment and healthcare practices.

The transformation of the paper records to the digitized health records has provided hospitals and professionals with much ease.  Health information technicians, medical assistants, medical billing and registered nurses are some of the applications of the impacts that electronic health records got successful bringing in the healthcare departments. The topmost benefits of using such digitalized systems are low time consuming and decreased healthcare costs. Various facilities have been introduced to provide enhanced health care to patients. These systems automatically alert the doctors about the potential issues and are used normally in the cases when the patient is unconscious. Certain advances in medical knowledge have also been made. New and advanced methods of treatment are being developed even for common health-related problems.

Persuasive technology has also brought various changes in the healthcare sector. It uses persuasive techniques to develop an interactive technology that strongly influences the way people look at a certain thing (IJsselsteijn, De Kort, Midden, Eggen, & Van Den Hoven, 2006). It has especially benefited the aged people that are diagnosed with chronic disease. They can live independently for a major portion of their life by making use of this technology. It has also affected the mental health domain as people with depression and mental health issues can measure their achievements through persuasive technology’s self-monitoring tools (Holländer, 2016).

Industries generate several types of waste that can be hazardous for human health. Talking about leather waste, it can prove to be a potential threat to one’s health. It contains hexavalent chromium that is especially dangerous. Dumping this waste in the open air can cause air pollution and possible risk to the people’s health. Various technologies have also been developed to deal with this waste. Techniques to control the risks from primary waste have been successful, but no satisfactory solutions have been found to deal with the secondary waste from the leather industries such as leather scraps, etc.  However, advanced hybrid technology for this purpose is being developed and is under testing process (Kolomaznik, Adamek, Andel, & Uhlirova, 2008).

Naturally occurring heavy metals like arsenic, mercury, lead, and more can be dangerous for human health when are kept together in huge amounts. A human must not be exposed to the industries or technologies that deal with such metals. They can pollute the environment and release compounds into the air that can have various negative health effects on human life. Arsenic can cause skin cancer, barium can become a cause of diarrhea, muscles weakness and vomiting, cadmium can damage one’s lungs, chromium causes breathing problems, lead can damage the kidneys and brain of a person that eventually leads to death, exposing to mercury also have certain side effects that can cause nausea or lung damage, involvement of silver in the air can result in stomach pains or breathing problems. These are only a few health issues that can be caused when heavy metals are exposed to the air. Thus, the technology that deals with them must be kept far away from cities or populated areas (Martin & Griswold, 2009).

Technology and Natural Environment

Technology has various effects on our local natural environment such as ecosystems, organisms, and their habitats, biodiversity and much more. The existences of certain species and some rare plants have been completely lost, and one of its major reasons is the development of advanced and dangerous technology. The rare habitats of these species have also been lost as a consequence of building a site or the demand for raw materials and sometimes they are intentionally destroyed to construct pipelines, etc. The ecosystems that have life-supporting capacity are affected by releasing chemicals and industrial waste into the environment. Chemicals that are toxic for the natural environment include pesticides or those which contain biological oxygen demand to a greater extent or other harmful nutrients.

Technology and Global Environment

This portion will take into consideration the impacts of technology that may not affect communities or our local ecosystems, but those that have a larger effect, i.e. on a global scale. The emissions of greenhouse gases, for instance methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxides can play a major role in enhancing global warming. Chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons can become the cause of depletion of the ozone layer. However, the emission of such gases varies with the time at which they are being released and the number of chemicals emitted. Therefore, such dimensions can be taken into consideration to control or reduce the effects of emission of such gases. Some technologies are also being developed to minimize effectiveness; the degradation of soil and clearing of the treed are two techniques that can reduce the negative impacts of carbon sinks.

Technology and Scarce Resources

The valuable resources that cannot be renewed get affected through the advancements in technology in many ways. Some technologies consume these resources at a much greater rate than at which it can continue to be supplied for a lifetime. It results in the shortage of such scarce resources. Another reason due to which natural resources are getting shortened is due to their consumptions in industries that utilize them as a third party; that means the technologies in the industry has no direct link to the resource and is doing absolutely nothing for its sustainability or reproduction. Various resources are being affected due to these processes. They include living, non-living as well as land resources. Excessive consumption of crops, fisheries or forests is an example of living resources. Non-living resources such as chemicals and minerals or water resources are also being affected. Huge seawater desalination plants are being built in countries all over the world that have already started facing water shortages. The seawater desalination technologies are really energy intensive as compared to other conventional approaches. These plants are also considered to have negative impacts on the environment. But water shortage is a serious problem, and, with time, it has started to become a global issue. Researchers are being conducted on how the performance of seawater desalination technologies can be improved and the risks that it poses on the environment can be controlled (Elimelech & Phillip, 2011).

The lands that are destroyed when dumped with industrial wastes or are consumed in the development of industrial sites and infrastructures damages them for later use. Thus, the consumption of resources must be limited, and their future demands must be taken into consideration. If the technology might harm the future potential of the natural resource, necessary measures must be taken in advance to prevent its complete loss. The concept of utilizing recyclable materials must be encouraged, and certain technologies that make use of them should be developed.

Technology and Social Environment

The values and culture of a community also get affected when technology gets involved in their day-to-day chores or life.  The social structure of a society may also get affected due to the use of technology.  Technology has the potential to affect significant areas of society like their religion, culture, moral values, historical or scientific values as well. The natural and historical heritage must be protected, and industries should be set up far away from them when they might contain the risk of damaging their beauty. The inappropriate use of natural resources can disrupt valuable ecosystems. Thus, certain aesthetic and visual consequences must be taken into consideration.

Technology is also capable of disturbing the whole economic or social structure the society. Effects of new workers, relocating people to a certain area due to technological intervention and risk of losing lives due to the excessive use of a resource must be considered to prevent social disruption.

Mostly, the positives associated with technologies are not distributed equally in society. Certain parts of society do not enjoy their benefits and suffer due to equity issues. Proper consideration should be taken into account so that the poor, women and children can also get benefited from technological developments.

Technology and Educational Environment

Technology is making noticeable contributions to the world of education and promises to reshape its future. More and more products are being developed to enhance the education sector. The use of Artificial intelligence and Machine learning in the development of educational software are evolving the role of educators, remodeling the classrooms and bringing remarkable changes in the approaches and techniques to teach. New learning models are being made that will educate the students according to their learning styles. Textbooks are being replaced by adaptive learning tools and software. However, this does not mean that the role of teachers will be lost in the coming future. Educators will have a more significant role to play with the evolving technology (Bates, Bates, & Sangra, 2011).

General Advantages of Technology on Human Life

• Technology has made communication much easier. Advanced technology tools are being developed for communication purposes that include electronic mail, smart phones, e-fax, and applications of instant text messaging, video conferencing, social networking and much more. People can communicate with their relatives overseas within seconds.
• The development of modern transportation has made it very easy to cover long distances in a limited time. Means of transport are getting cheaper and faster as new advancements are being made. It includes airplanes, electric trains, automated cars, etc. Now, people can cover numerous miles in a few minutes.
• Modern technology has, of course, made various contributions in simplifying our lives. It has improved the overall quality of life. The type of housing has been improved. New architectural technology has been introduced. Even glass homes and floating homes are also being made, but only richer people can afford them right now. Most of the machinery to perform household chores is getting automated. Integrated security systems are also being used to provide security for normal houses.
• The entertainment industry has also evolved due to the advancements being made in technology. Ultra HD televisions, advanced music systems, and 3D video games have even improved home entertainment to a great extent.
• Businesses are also getting benefitted from technology through increased production of more consistent quality.
• Social networking is one of the most celebrated applications of technology. Individuals use it to connect with their friends. Businesses embrace such applications for their marketing and advertisements (Ramey, 2012)

General Disadvantages of Technology on Human Health

• Loneliness and isolation are one of the major social issues that are caused due to the increased use of technology. Individuals who spend more time on social networking sites and playing games on the internet mostly get into depression due to lack of healthy interaction with people (Nichols, 2017).
• Technology has made everything automated. In a few years, robots will be replacing humans in every sector of life. It will cause a huge job loss. People will most probably get starved to get employed.
• Security has become a major issue as everything is now somehow connected to the internet. Our photos, our bank accounts, our data; nothing is safe, and everything is at stake.
• Advanced developments in war weapons can destroy the peace of the world. Manufacturing them increases the fear of war. Weapons of today are capable of providing severe damage to the Earth, even making places uninhabitable to live (Ramey, 2012).

Conclusion

It is concluded that if used in an intelligent and controlled manner, the negative impacts of technology can be reduced to a certain extent. One way is to replace the harmful products with new emerging material. Materials that are made from biodegrade or other natural sources do not contain such chemicals that are hazardous to one’s health and cause air pollution. Such materials should be incorporated into industrial use. Emissions of gases and chemicals can cause several damages to the air and water and are capable of increasing global warming. Transportation, heating, cooling, and electricity also contribute to these emissions. Coal can be replaced with natural gas or other sustainable energy resources that are much cleaner. Natural resources like solar energy or wind should be used for electricity generation. Not only are much cleaner ways of producing emissions now being introduced, but also, many efficient methods are being implemented in the form of modern technology.

References

Bates, A. W., Bates, T., & Sangra, A. (2011). Managing Technology in Higher Education: Strategies for Transforming Teaching and Learning (2 ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

Elimelech, M., & Phillip, W. A. (2011). The Future of Seawater Desalination: Energy, Technology, and the Environment. Science, 333(6043), 712-717.

Holländer, H. M. (2016, March). The influence of persuasive technology in modern health care. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/741b/6326947c3e253366a1742ebe330df911a26d.pdf

IJsselsteijn, W., De Kort, Y., Midden, C., Eggen, B., & Van Den Hoven, E. (2006, May 18). Persuasive technology for human well-being: setting the scene. International conference on persuasive technology., 1-5.

Kolomaznik, K., Adamek, M., Andel, I., & Uhlirova, M. (2008). Leather waste—potential threat to human health, and a new technology of its treatment. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 160(2-3), 514-520.

Martin, S., & Griswold, W. (2009). Human health effects of heavy metals. Center for Hazardous Substance Research, 15(2009), 1-6.

Nichols, M. R. (2017, Decemeber 24). How can technology save the environment? Retrieved from https://born2invest.com/articles/technology-save-environment/

Ramey, K. (2012, November 6). Modern technology: Advantages and disadvantages. Retrieved from https://www.useoftechnology.com/modern-technology-advantages-disadvantages/