A few pointers to help you on your way for the next essay: Computers and the environment You will look at the ways that computers can reduce pollution and other types of environmental damage. You will also examine how computers can damage the environment.
Major themes are: Environmental monitoring and modelling Reducing needs (such as transport, paper etc.) Increasing awareness through communications (such as the reporting of the loss of the rain forest) Increased production and consumption of goods The impact of computer production on the environment Cultural impoverishment through the impact of cheap satellite television imports You must reach the opinions of environmental and industrial pressure groups.
We'll look at each heading in turn.
Environmental monitoring and modelling How have computers enabled scientists to better record the changing weather patterns? How have computers helped scientists to track weather systems, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.? How have they enabled scientists to track long term changes in the weather systems? A lot of years ago, before computers became as cheap and available as they are today, scientists were virtually blind when it came to predicting the weather patterns.
United States
United States
The insides of a video cassette recorder or VCR. (...Today, things are very different. Remote recording stations had limited ability, without computer control, and no matter how remote had to be accessed manually to collect the data recorded there. Now the range of features, recordings, observations that these stations can make is incredible, and its all automatic. In addition, the station can beam the data to the central weather station as soon as it is collected.
There is so much potential here.
In addition to this, computer aided analysis of soil samples, atmosphere samples, (acid) rain monitoring, ice samples (from the Arctic) etc. are enabling scientists to evaluate the impact of man on the Earth like never before. Drillings of ice in the Arctic...