17 Bit Software 2: Collection B/17Bit_Collection_B.iso/files/2006.dms/in.adf/ENVIRONMENT

Text File | 1992-04-10 | 10.7 KB | 163 lines

                        COMPUTERS  AND  THE  ENVIRONMENT

                               BY RICHARD SMEDLEY

    These days, it is becoming virtually impossible to pick up a  newspaper,
 or watch the television, without hearing  about  some  ecological  disaster
 which has occured. Yet,  despite  this  constant  news  saturation,  it  is
 surprising as to exactly how many people are  unaware  of  the  true  facts
 about the cause of the so-called "Greenhouse Effect" and some simple  steps
 which we can all take to help slow down its effects. So before I expand  on
 exactly why computers are contributing to the greenhouse  effect,  and  how
 to reduce the damage which they are creating,  I  shall  briefly  summarize
 the main causes (and effects) of this complex subject.

    Despite the brilliant minds of many of earths  scientists,  it  is  only
 recently that the human race has begun to accept that the  problem  of  the
 much publicised "Greenhouse Effect" really  exists  (some  scientists  knew
 about the problem back in the 1960's, but nobody believed  them).  However,
 now that we have accepted the theory as being a reality, it is too late  to
 put a stop to its causes, because the effects are now starting to become  a
 reality.

    Due to the scientific investigation of this problem, it is now a  widely
 accepted idea that the cause is an accumulation of carbon dioxide  high  up
 in the earths atmosphere. What is thought to be happening is that the  suns
 rays are coming down through the atmosphere and heating the surface of  the
 earth (just as they have for millions of years). But now, when  these  rays
 are reflected back up from the surface of the planet,  instead  of  leaving
 the atmosphere they are being reflected  back  down  again  by  the  carbon
 dioxide and re-heating the planet surface. The net result of this  is  that
 the earths temperature is rising above the average which  it  has  remained
 at for centuries.

    This carbon dioxide is continually being released  into  the  atmosphere
 as a bi-product of the  first  and  second  worlds  quest  for  power.  The
 majority of power stations on the planet generate  electricity  by  burning
 fossil fuels such as coal, oil or petrol, all  of  which  results  in  huge
 quantities  of  carbon  dioxide  being   released.   In   our   quest   for
 independence, we invented the  internal  combustion  engine  to  drive  our
 cars, but which instead simply clogs up all our roads and  pours  yet  more
 carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Every single year, a car produces  four
 times its own weight in carbon dioxide alone,  not to mention all the other
 poisonous chemicals they produce. Our politicians  aren't  exactly  falling
 over themselves to help the problem either, with them instead prefering  to
 avoid discussing the subject and setting long term  objectives  which  fall
 into the catagory of being "Too little too late".  Whilst  they  seem  only
 concerned with gaining votes, they don't seem to realise that if  something
 isn't done soon then we may not have a country (or  even  planet)  to  vote
 for.

    There is, of course, one major disadvantage with the  politicians:  They
 don't actually do anything to try  and  solve  a  problem,  they  just  sit
 around and talk amongst themselves about it. The people who really  do  all
 the work are the scientists who, in an attempt to solve these problems, are
 trying to develop alternative forms of  power.  Numerous  ideas  have  been
 suggested, including solar power, hydro-electric,  tidal  and  wind  power,
 but none of these  have  been  sufficiently  developed  to  generate  large
 enough amounts of electricity to  make  them  feasible.  Even  the  nuclear
 industry has  proven  unpopular  due  to  possible  links  with  leukaemia,
 cancer, the problems of getting rid of nuclear waste, and  the  dangers  of
 either an explosion or a melt-down. In fact, the only  likely  solution  to
 this problem appears  to  lie  with  the  possibility  of  nuclear  fusion,
 although many scientists  are  sceptical  and  the  idea  needs  much  more
 research.

    Of course, these are not the only problems (and  solutions)  surrounding
 this subject. The third world are attempting  to  develop  their  countries
 economically in order to allow them to lead similiar  lifestyles  to  those
 of the first world. However, in order to do this, they are  doing  what  we
 ourselves did a  few  centuries  ago  and  attempting  to  make  everything
 man-made. Unfortunately, this involves cutting down  all  the  rainforests,
 which absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert  it  back  into
 oxygen again. Sadly, though, a little publicised fact is  that  after  they
 have cut all the rainforests down (and burnt them,  producing  more  carbon
 dioxide), the rainforests will no longer be there to convert carbon dioxide
 from the atmosphere back into oxygen again, so not only will the amount  of
 carbon dioxide increase,  but  also  oxygen  levels  will  start  to  drop.
 Ultimately, if this trend is allowed to continue, then the levels of oxygen
 in the atmosphere will drop below the level required to sustain human life,
 and we will  have  effectively  destroyed  ourselves.  Again,  there  is  a
 solution to this problem. If the first world governments were to  give  the
 third world the money it requires to replant the  rainforests  and  sustain
 economic development, then they would no longer have the need  to  continue
 destroying the rainforests. This solution is a problem in itself,  however,
 because in our capitalist society we are unlikely  to  give  any  money  to
 anybody, regardless of the reasons (or the consequences).

    There  is  another  problem  which  is  directly  associated  with   the
 greenhouse effect: The depletion of the ozone layer. This is caused by  the
 release of gases (such as CFC's) into the atmosphere from  everything  from
 polystyrene to scrap refrigerators. If we lose the ozone layer  (or  should
 I say when we lose it), then the ultra violet light transmitted by the sun,
 which was previously absorbed by the ozone layer,  will  reach  the  earths
 surface. Whilst this, in itself, might not sound very serious, it will have
 devastating effects when it happens (the  current  consensus  is  that  the
 ozone layer over Europe will have completely disappeared  by  1997).  There
 will be dramatic increases in cases of skin  cancer,  anybody  who  doesn't
 wear glass lensed spectacles will probably have cataracts,  the  list  goes
 on. Unfortunately the ozone layer isn't something which we can artificially
 regenerate, so radical steps will have to be taken to prevent  a  disaster.
 New forms of clothing might have to  be  developed,  or  alternatively  all
 forms of life may have to be enclosed within glass, which will  absorb  the
 ultra-violet light.

    The heating of the atmosphere will, in the long term, have  catastrophic
 effects. If the polar ice caps melt, then sea levels could rise by as  much
 as ten metres, which would put  large  amounts  of  the  English  coastline
 (including London, Liverpool and Skegness) underwater. A slight increase in
 temperature will mean that crops will no longer grow in places  where  they
 do at the moment, deserts will  expand,  and  water  droughts  will  become
 common occurances with current droughts worsening. In short, it is  obvious
 that something must be done soon, and that the long term objectives,  which
 our politicians are so keen on relying on, must come to an end.

    You could well be wondering by now as to what exactly all this has to do
 with computers. In my defense, you would be surprised about how many people
 are unaware of the true facts surrounding the  greenhouse  effect  and  its
 implications on life in general, so I thought that it might  be  worthwhile
 briefly explaining some of the complex issues involved. As to how all  this
 links to computers, the answer is simple. From reading  this  text,  it  is
 clear that generating electricity is one of the primary  problems  involved
 in this issue, and frankly  I  doubt  that  there  are  many  people  whose
 computer (and associated  equipment)  doesn't  plug  into  the  electricity
 supply. Therefore it doesn't take a genius to realise  that  computers  are
 directly contributing to the greenhouse effect. I must stress at this point
 that I don't want anybody to misunderstand me, because I am not  suggesting
 that we all throw our computers away and take up a more  ecologically  safe
 hobby. The point is, though, that there are  several  steps  which  can  be
 taken to reduce the damage which computers are  causing to the environment.
 For example, if whilst you are doing some programming (or playing  a  game)
 you switch off your printer and any external disk  drives,  and  only  have
 them switched on whilst it is necessary for your software to  access  them,
 then you would save some electricity  (if your printer requires  a  special
 non-default set-up, then re-initialising it shouldn't take more than a  few
 seconds, so thats no excuse). The saving from this small action might  seem
 negligible, but if everybody in the country (or  even  the  world)  was  to
 observe this, then the net saving would be  phenomenal.  Likewise,  if  you
 are doing some work, and have to leave the room (or  your  desk)  for  some
 reason, then switch your monitor or television  off  (large  companies  are
 particularly guilty for not doing this). Again, you might be  surprised  as
 to how much electricity can be saved by this simple action.

    Sceptics will no doubt  remain  unconvinced  that  these  actions  would
 actually help the environment. The main argument used  by  such  people  to
 justify not taking these simple steps is  that  the  electricity  companies
 will still be generating this electricity when  your  monitor,  printer  or
 external disk drive is switched off, so there will be  no  net  saving.  In
 order to answer this point, the simple fact is that  electricity  companies
 are themselves businesses, and they will always save money where they  can.
 Switching off your equipment when it isn't being used would result in a net
 drop in demand for electricity. Any good business man will tell you that it
 is a bad policy to produce a product  when  the  demand  for  that  product
 doesn't exist. The drop in demand for electricity would result in a drop in
 the amount of electricity which is being produced,  which,  in  turn,  will
 result in a drop in the amount of carbon dioxide which the  power  stations
 are pumping into  the  atmosphere,  which  will  ultimately  contribute  to
 slowing down the greenhouse effect.

    So, next time you use your computer, don't  forget  to  switch  off  any
 equipment which isn't being  used.  That  saving  might  just  be  what  is
 required to save the earth!