Remote operations
Marc Prempain
15 April 2024
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Climate change has adverse effects on human beings and the environment as it destabilizes the Earth’s temperature. The increased concentration of greenhouse gases has a substantial negative impact, the effects of which can already be observed around us. This article analyzes the effects of climate change and how can technology reduce climate change.
As temperature rises, the water warms and causes glaciers and polar ice shields to melt. This leads to an increase in sea levels that threatens low-lying coastal areas and increases flooding.
There has been a recorded increase in heat-related deaths in various parts of the world. Moreover, there are higher chances of spreading water-borne diseases.
Higher carbon dioxide concentrations would have adverse effects on the wildlife. Many animal species have already changed their habitats. There would be a loss of biodiversity due to the limited speed of adaptability of flora and fauna.
The loss of life and property imposes serious economic and societal costs. Agriculture, tourism, fisheries, and energy sectors are heavily affected due to climate change.
Developing countries will be the most affected by climate change. Shifting rainfall patterns and extreme temperature changes would cause crop losses and stifle efforts made towards combating hunger and poverty.
Digital technology can help tackle climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving processes, reducing wastage, and creating resilience systems to climate-related natural disasters. Increased automation and improved efficiency in agriculture, manufacturing, and energy industries could prove to be game changers in combating climate change.
Following are important tech innovations that illustrate how technology can reduce climate change.
Conventional power plants that are powered by fossil fuels are unsustainable as they have huge carbon footprints that contribute to global warming. Renewable sources can produce energy without CO2 emissions. Additionally, renewable energy sources can now be harnessed more efficiently given the technological developments in solar panels and wind turbines. However, the next stage of technological shifts would be powered by creating efficient and cost-effective batteries to store the electricity that can be utilized when there is no sun or wind to power the turbines.
Even after the shift to renewable energies and a low carbon energy system, there will still be huge amounts of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. Carbon capture technology and storage (CUSS) can be used to capture carbon dioxide emissions, compress into a liquid, and then stored deep in the ground so that it cannot contribute to climate change. Alternatively, captured CO2 can also be used in industrial processes such as the production of concrete.
Carbon capture technology seems extremely promising; however, there are limited geographic formations wherein CO2 can be stored in this manner and efforts also need to be made to keep costs low.
Automation, artificial intelligence, and digitization of operations would help improve processes, reduce wastage and energy consumption, and allow for efficient utilization of resources. The incorporation of new energy-efficient digital technologies within the production systems could reduce global emissions by 15%.
Moving forward, there is a need for collective action and collaboration between governments, individuals, and businesses to tackle the climate crises. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the creation of new tech groupings point towards greater collaboration towards the common goal.
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