Throughout human history, technologies have been used to make peoples’ lives richer and more comfortable, but they have also contributed to a global crisis threatening Earth’s climate, ecosystems and even our own survival.
Throughout human history, technologies have been used to make peoples’ lives richer and more comfortable, but they have also contributed to a global crisis threatening Earth’s climate, ecosystems and even our own survival. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, the University of Kansas and Oregon State University have suggested that industrial civilization’s best way forward may entail embracing further technological advancements but doing so with greater awareness of their potential drawbacks.
In a paper titled “Scientists’ Warning on Technology,” published recently in the Journal of Cleaner Production, the researchers, led by Bill Tomlinson, UCI professor of informatics, stress that innovations, particularly in the fields of clean energy and artificial intelligence, will come with risks but may be the most effective way to ensure a sustainable future.
“Since prehistoric times, technologies have been created to solve problems and benefit people; think of the improvements that have been made in agriculture, manufacturing and transportation,” Tomlinson said. “But these developments have had a dual nature. While addressing the human need for food, farming has led to environmental degradation, and our factories and vehicles have caused a massive buildup of atmospheric carbon dioxide, which is causing climate change.”
Read more at: University of California - Irving
Bill Tomlinson, UCI professor of informatics and co-author of a recently issued ‘scientists’ warning’ on climate change and technology, says that new clean energy innovations and AI, broadly applied across a swath of human activities, could offer a pathway to dramatic reductions in carbon emissions and other environmental harms. (Photo Credit: Steve Zylius / UCI)
