SOCIAL IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGYEMILY BRETTAPRIL 8 , 2013SHANE JONES

Technology & It’s Impact On Our Planet

Technology is transforming and evolving everyday. Everyone owns some form of technology and it will soon come to the point where it will be harming us as a society and our planet more then it is doing good. 5 sections I cover will be as follows:

• Automobiles• Nuclear• Communication• Medical• Computer Hacking and Exploiting

Introduction

Automobiles•Damage to the environment begins with manufacturing. Mineral extraction for the production of raw materials for automobiles start the impact to the surrounding environment.

•At the end of a vehicles life, it is send to a scrap yard where only about 75% of the automobile is recyclable which comes in the form of steel.

•Most of the environmental damage is done in the middle, with the use and driving of it.

•Pollution is created by the exhaust of the car and with the supplying of fossil fuels.

•Delicate ecosystems are damage with the extraction of oil and fossil fuels. Putting wildlife at risk.

•CO2 from the combustion of fossil fuels is harmful to the environment by causing global warming.

•Smog advisories during the hot summer months cause shortness of breath and further repertory issues for some people.

Automobile Pollution

Summer day in New York City

A list of major pollutants associated with Automobiles:

Particulate Matter (PM) – Are fine airborne particles. PM forms haze and can be lodged deeply into the lungs. Soot and smoke from exhaust pipes are examples of PM

Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) – Nitrogen Oxide and Nitrogen Dioxide. Directly affects lungs and can irritate respiratory problems. Very difficult pollutant to control.

Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) – Gasoline and diesel fossil fuels contains sulfur. When burned, creates sulfur dioxide. Main source of SO2 is power plants and other industrial or manufacturing facilities.

Hydrocarbons (HC) – Contains carbon and hydrogen. These are directly hazardous and cause air toxics. HC is irritating to lungs and other tissue among the body. HC reacts with Nitrogen Oxides to create ozone smog.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) – Potentially very deadly and odorless gas that is created from the incomplete combustion of fuel. This gas impairs blood flow to your brain and other body parts.

Some vehicles produced today are now being made fully electric or even hybrids of fuel and electric. Which helps slightly cut down vehicle exhaust and emissions.

Nuclear Power

o Although nuclear power plants have a benefit with slightly decreased air pollutants. With that comes with other environmental issues.

oRadioactive waste can remain dangerous for up to 250,000 years.

oThese plants emit radioactive material, imposing risk to workers, their families, and surrounding communities.

Disasters1957: Windscale, England. Core reactor caught fire. Radioactivty spread through Britain infecting many people.1957: Kyshytym, Russia. Explosion at the plant killed 10,000 people and having 270,000 people evacuated.1979: Pennsylvania, USA. Partial meltdown. Cost US 1 billion dollars to repair.2011: Tokyo, Japan. Tsunami destroys the cooling systems. Causing multiple meltdowns.

CommunicationCell phones are one of today’s leading devices for communicating with others. Cell phones have a number of different negative health effects on people as well.

Cell phones potentially increase the possibility of brain cancer from low frequency radiation that cell phones give off. The possibility of cell phone addiction with social media and games also can reduce the amount of sleep a person may get per night which increases stress and exhaustion.

Is the next step implant chips underneath the human skin?

Communication Modern communication methods is also destroying the English language.

Some have said when typing a message, to not think if it as English, but a different language on its own instead a degrading version of English.

Social networking has caused in increase in cyber bullying, increases insecurities and has also weakened friendships. Starting social networking at young ages may hurt children by not developing proper communication skills among their peers.

Using a cell phone while driving, weather it be texting or calling has been made illegal in a number of different areas due to the amount of accidents and deaths that occur while using a phone and being distracted.

Google’s new invention “Google Glass” has already been banned from use while driving ina number of different states in the US due todistracting drivers while driving and potentially causing deadly accidents.

Medical Technology

Medical technology has come a long way. Although most has been seen as positive, there are negative impacts to our society as well with the increasing complexity of medicine and treatments.

Although new medical drugs can help treat various upcoming diseases, these can be highly damaging as well to the human body as well. Whether it be overused or using it abusively.

Pace makers are a new form of medical technology for the human heart. But they are affect by radiation from microwaves and other mobile devices that give off radiation and negatively affect the user. MRI’s even act negatively on them as well.

Computers and Hacking/Exploiting

Important files and documents are no longer just stored on paper. Almost every corporation or company has and uses computers. Whether it be for storing information and documents or promoting sales.

The rise of computers and the internet in society have caused an increase in cyber bullying with social media and the ability to stay anonymous on the internet.

With business moving to more electronic operations. This leaves them vulnerable to attacks as well. Web sites are susceptible to attack from hackers and can be taken down with denial of service attacks and can cost a company lots of money if they can’t make sales from their website.

Computer Chips and HackingWith the next step of communication and medical technology possibly being the implanted inside the human body or underneath skin, this possibly leaves to the next issue. Security. Security is a constant issue with computer systems and websites across the world.

If microchips start being implanted into human beings with wifi or satellite connectivity with MAC and IP addresses, this could possibly lead to unauthorized access from someone not intended. Potentially hurting or controlling some else’s body or causing a technological failure. Let alone the possible radiation so close to your body from something with satellite technology, much like a cell phone.

Computer Security With alot of companies and even countries with so much information

on their networks, security is a very high concern. This can lead countries vulnerable to cyber attacks and even possibly start them blaming each other for attacks on other countries.

A hacker group called Anonymous has been behind a number of attacks on numerous sites in multiple countries.

• 2010: Anon. used DDoS attacks to bring down various Australian government websites. They then took down the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry of Association of America (RIAA) for attacking the popular torrent site Pirate Bay. Anon then targeted companies like Mastercard, Visa, Paypal, The Bank of America and Amazon for blocking charitable donating for the website Wikileaks which gave information about corrupt government activities.

• 2011: Anon used DDoS attacks again to bring down the Tunisian Stock Exchange and the Tunisian Ministry of Industry due to the government attempting to censor the internet. The Egyptian government was also a victim with this attack as well.

• 2013: Anon disabled the US Sentencing Commission’s website over the death of a freedom advocate Aaron Swartz. Anonymous threatened to release critical government data.

This was just a brief history of attacks on certain companies and government sites over the recent years. In the future this could lead to a cyber war between countries attacking each others important government documents.

Computers in the Workplace

Alot of jobs have been taking away from the manufacturing industry with the addition of computers and robots.

Robotics are taking away jobs from manufacturing and moving them to the service industry.

Robots are being created with artificial intelligence which can grow.

Robots can complete tasks faster and more efficient then most humans. Therefore, humans are not needed.

Summary of ways technologies may negatively impact our society and planet.

Automobiles:◦ Emit lots of different types of gases harmful to our body’s and the environment.

Scrap yards of broken cars take up space, while only 75% of cars can be recycled.

Nuclear:o Nuclear power plants give off radioactive frequency that can harm people and

the environment around. Nuclear weapons in the wrong hands are very deadly to society as well.

Communications: Cell phones give off slight a slight amount of radiation that can be cancerous.

Usage of phones while driving have caused deadly accidents. Medical:

o Medical drugs can cause harm as well. Overdose or abuse of the drugs can easily be fatal. Pacemakers can easily be disrupted by radiation as well.

Computers:o Valuable information is stored online now instead of paper documents. Robotics

are replacing humans in manufacturing jobs that have alot of repetitive actions.

Summary

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