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!