Environmental and Societal Impact of Technology

How does technology impact the environment is indeed a million dollar question that needs to be answered? Who makes all of the technological devices, and what sort of working conditions do they have? How does it affect opportunities when there is a divide between who actually has access to technology and those without?

Technology can eventually provide substantial solutions to one’s environmental woes. Technological innovations do have the potential to harm one’s environment so one needs to make use of it wisely.

It is important to develop and produce new materials and technologies that are indeed sustainable and also do not harm the environment so that one can eventually stop making use of those that can cause much harm.

It allows does monitor and study our environment to better understand how it works and the impact of our actions on it.

It also helps create smarter technologies that do respond as to how one makes use of them and also adjust themselves in order to reduce their environmental impact.

It does allow one to have a worldwide virtual reality laboratory so that experts from all fields can also share their research, experience, and ideas to come up with better, smarter solutions. Not only does this allow people who are situated far away from each other to work together, but it also does reduce the environmental impact people would normally cause from traveling to meet with each other

It also does allow for paperless communication such as email and online bill paying in order to reduce the number of trees cut down

It does allow companies to reduce shipping and manufacturing impact and also to reach a broader audience

Sometimes people can also get quite excited about making use of a new technology that they may tend to overlook the negative impact on the environment.

Social impacts :

Technology does indeed have an impact upon a community’s values, social services, and social cohesion. These impacts are no doubt in addition to those that happen to be related to human health, safety as well as well being.

Cultural resources and values:

The focus is on cultural, religious, historical, scientific or other value to the community. Possible pressures do include the inappropriate use of a resource (e.g. the clearance of a site leading to disruption of culturally valued ecosystems), or the potentially detrimental effect that has emissions which may have on a resource. Social disruption to the


There are impacts that may be associated with no doubt significant consequences for the social and economic structure of the community. Important issues that might also need to be considered that do include the effect new workers (and their dependents) may also have on the community, the possible loss of livelihood through the overuse of a resource (e.g. fisheries), and the relocation of people as a result of a technology intervention.

Equity issues:

It is also unlikely that impacts are associated with a technology will be equally distributed through the community-specific sections of society may also suffer disproportionately. In many situations, the people who are most affected are those without strong institutional support. Particular attention needs to be paid to the potential effects of a technology development on indigenous people, the poor, children as well as women.

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About the Author: Jaya Nandini

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