Emerging Technology and Its Implications Essay

With the increasing attention being accorded to climate change in the mainstream media these days, on that point is also an increased attention being given to technological solutions to assist in combating the chore.While such(prenominal) solutions are admirable in that they go above and beyond the usual calls for recycling and the purchase of common land products which have been proven to be of trivial impact upon the large scale flaws in systems of production and outgo that characterize industrial modernity not all of them should embraced uncritically. It is only by subjecting every proposal to hand over the planet to scrutiny that we can determine a truly sustainable future.One of the ideas that has been receiving increasing specie in environmentalist discussions are large scale terrestrial technofixes embodiedly referred to as geo- technology science or planetary engineering. These include mirrors in space designed to reflect excess amount of sunlight, artificial trees designed to get carbon out of the atmosphere, and managed release of sulfates into the atmosphere, and many, many other epic plans to manipulate the ecological fabric of our planet. here(predicate)s the rub The term geo engineering is a rather questionable unmatchable, as it implies that it has the same sorting of empirical or mathematical certainty as engineering when it doesnt. It smoothens over many of the bumps and curves that characterize our problems and hire creative solutions. In effect, planetary salvation becomes as easy as building a delve into a hill or a bridge across a river, when in fact our collective understanding of the systemic impacts is far less than the geo engineering promoters would have us believe. One might as well call it planetary experimentation.While the potential benefits proposed are of an epic magnitude, this magnitude would also pass to the potential consequences. Take for example a proposal to suck carbon dioxide into the planets oceans by s eeding it with iron deposits. Many, including the Scientific Steering Committee of the Surface Ocean-Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS) and the World Conservation partnership (IUCN) have observed that this has the potential to worsenedn ocean acidification and lead to catastrophic results for marine ecologyThe oceans are complex, dynamic, unpredictable and already vulnerable We need to build their resilience, not undermine it not quick fixes to this global problem that may cause far more long-term harm than good. (Gjerde)Additionally, the historical track record of large scale hitch in the name of environmental concern has never been very good to begin with, asserts Alex Steffen of WorldchangingFrom damming rivers to fighting timber fires to eliminating pests efforts have in hindsight been so overrun with unintended consequences as to become full-blown disasters, often worse than the original problems . And the cost of errors increase with the magnitude of the attempted solution. (Steffen)Geo engineering is essentially a silver bullet solution, one which reduces the governmental will to creatively retrofit our present lifestyles in such a manner as to be sustainable and environmentally sound, while still being able to enjoy the luxuries of post-industrial advancements. In essence, the tools for a light-greener world are already here and their downsides are negligible in the face of overwhelming benefits both(prenominal) environmental and societal.In any case, discussion over geo engineering merely provides a distraction from mustering the political will necessary to effect true change. It provides climate change skeptics a justification for political unfeelingness to redressing our present way of life Why opt for better designed cities, fuel efficient vehicles and difficult infrastructural rethinking when we can merely erase the effects of our problematic systems?Ones stance on geo engineering is not a question of whether you are a techno utopian or a complete Luddite. However, at that place is a major distinction to be made between engine room that is transparent in agenda, cooperative in nature, and egalitarian in application as well as easy to remedy and technology that is centralized, expensive and difficult to reverse. Between Star Wars a missile defense system saddled with so much corruption that does nothing to provide for homeland security and nuclear power a contract of perpetual source of energy whose failures wreaked massive consequences we ought to regard geo engineering with suspicion dangerous until proven safe.Geo engineering is unnecessary. Fixing the planet in such a manner is turning a blind spunk to the way we live it shows a lack of innovation and political courage that is necessary to the bright green future.Works CitedStiles, Lori. Space Sunshade Might Be Feasible In Global Warming Emergency. NASA existence Observatory. 3 November 2006. Retrieved July 8, 2008 from http//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Ne wsroom/MediaAlerts/2006/2006110323537.htmlBentley, Molly. Guns and sunshades to rescue climate. BBC News. 2 March 2006. Retrieved July 8, 2008 from http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4762720.stmGjerde, Kristina. Hold screening the geo-engineering tide. BBC News. 11 December 2007. Retrieved July 8, 2008 from http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7133619.stmRomm, Joseph. Rule three of offsets No geo-engineering. Grist magazine Online. 27 July 2007. Retrieved July 8, 2008 from http//gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/7/27/144848/844