Climate change is a global crisis that affects our health, environment, and economy. For decades now, human activities have significantly affected and changed the earth’s climate. Climate change has majorly been caused by the release of large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Natural processes such as changes in volcanic eruptions and the sun’s energy also affect the earth’s climate.
It is however sad to note that some advancements in technology have contributed to climate change. One of these technological advancements is the discovery and use of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels affect climate change by releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases when burnt.
But lucky for us, technological advancements don’t just have negative effects but also play a positive role in climate action. This is through the development of innovations that can help the world reduce the effects of climate change. Here are 3 tech tools that have been discovered by scientists that can help in addressing climate change.
Climate repair
Climate repair means taking carbon OUT of the air, and storing it so that it cannot return there so easily. According to studies by the University of Cambridge, climate repair can work to repair the damages caused by human pollution. The suggestions include;
The refreezing of clouds above the poles. This suggestion entails the brightening of clouds above the poles to refreeze them. This will be carried out by spraying tiny drops of salt into the sky to help the clouds in reflecting radiation into space, causing the clouds to freeze.
The other suggestion is the “greening” of the oceans. This can be done by fertilizing the oceans to encourage the growth of algae and plant matter. This will work to absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to help in the reduction of global warming.
However, some research has been published that suggests that the action of “greening” the ocean will lead to a disruption to the oceans’ ecosystems, and will not yield the expected results on capturing enough carbon dioxide to offset emissions.
Using Data Centers More Efficiently
Since people started using computers, the consumption of electricity has significantly increased. This is because the use of computers brought in the advancements in technologies that we enjoy using today.
Instead of performing energy-intensive applications on local machines – from crunching complicated numbers to playing video games – people could begin to offset a considerable amount of energy expenditure by having these applications performed in the cloud.
Companies that have specialized in cloud computing services such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are large consumers of renewable energy. This helps in conserving the environment. And actually, Google and Microsoft have both launched cloud gaming platforms too which don’t require gamers to purchase consoles (the production of which also causes emissions) to play them.
Household energy efficiency
One of the most energy-effective technological solutions to climate change is the reduction of overall energy consumption. And the most effective way is through working towards making the homes of all human beings more energy efficient. The good news is that there are tons of ways already available that people can use to make their homes more energy efficient. This can be through bulbs, the type of refrigerator a person buys to televisions.
They always say that the little things matter and in energy efficiency, this is also true. You may see that energy savings made through design innovations might be small individually but they have the potential to scale and significantly impact energy consumption across the course of a year for a household, and even more significantly across all households in a country.
According to a study, electricity consumption has declined for the last 5 years from 2823 kW per hour (kWh) in the year 2013 to 1338 kWh as of 2017 this is due to the energy efficiency measures undertaken by various individuals.
For a very long time, climate change was the biggest problem the planet has faced. But since the coronavirus pandemic, it has seemingly taken a back seat. It doesn’t mean that the effects of climate change aren’t being experienced at all. But it means that we are facing two very big threats to humanity. As we try to mitigate how we will handle these issues, it is important to put into consideration these three tech tools that can work to make the world have a green and more energy efficient ecosystem. If you want to help in conserving our earth for our future generations, you can begin with newer, greener, electronic goods.
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