QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

1. Discuss in detail the impact of IT on society along with its merits and
demerits?
Ans:
Positive Effects of IT on Society
Computerization of Library
⮚ The books can be easily searched
⮚ Very less time to find the exact location of book
⮚ Preface and summary can be read on the computer system
⮚ Easy track of books

E-books:
⮚ One of the major revolutions after Gutenberg invented the press for printing
books.
⮚ Many are converted to digitally readable formats like .pdf
⮚ Research papers are mostly published in digital format
⮚ Some magazines like economist are promoting their digital issues
⮚ Book storage becomes easier
⮚ Easy to refer

Open Online Educational Courses

⮚ One of the greatest revolution in the field of education
⮚ Very effective and easy way to spread knowledge
⮚ People can choose and learn whichever courses they want online
⮚ Some examples: Coursera, EDX, MIT’s OCW

Negative Effects of IT on Society

⮚ An Omnipresent Distraction
Cell phones and mobile devices allow users to stay connected even when away from
their computers. While this can be a great benefit, especially in emergencies, it can
also be a dangerous distraction. Hundreds of thousands of people suffer injuries
every year in accidents involving a distracted driver, and texting and cell phone use
are primary sources of distraction behind the wheel. While it may only take a driver a
few seconds to read a text message, during that time his vehicle could travel the
length of a football field without his eyes on the road. Technology can also be a
distraction at home or in the office, as always-present instant messaging applications
and social networks can draw a user's attention away from more important matters.

⮚ Dependency Issues
Teaching kids how to use technology at such a young age can lead to dependency
issues. It would be considered big challenge for people to try to get by one day
without technology such as a cell phone. An example of how we are very dependent
on technology is if you were to ask teens now a simple math question a majority of
them would have to refer to a calculator to answer the question simply because they
have always relied on technology. Many kids depend on spell check to correct their
mistake. This doesn’t have the same learning affect that getting a dictionary and
looking up the word would have on the person.

⮚ Neurosis
Since Google for many is also a virtual doctor, we are open to access the cause of
our symptoms, various diseases and its dire effects. While this awareness is good in
a way, we also tend to connect a simple headache to a possible tumour! Also, a
major part of our lives have been ruled by the number of likes and comments our
posts receive. Thus the above are evidence that technology allows the individual to
suffer from disturbances both emotional and mental and also adds to it a bunch of
phobias and delusions.

⮚ Impact on Children
Using technology can change a child’s brain. An article in Psychology Today says
that the use of technology can alter the actual wiring of the brain. More than a third of
children under the age of two use mobile media. That number only increases as
children age, with 95% of teens 12-17 spending time online. The time spent with
technology doesn’t just give kids new-fangled ways of doing things, it changes the
way their brains work. For example, the article says that while video games may
condition the brain to pay attention to multiple stimuli, they can lead to distraction
and decreased memory. Children who always use search engines may become very
good at finding information—but not very good at remembering it. In addition, the
article said, children who use too much technology may not have enough
opportunities to use their imagination or to read and think deeply about the material.

⮚ Addiction
User withdraws from friends and family as he spends more and more time on the
computer. Relationships begin to wither as the user stops attending social
gatherings, skips meetings with friends and avoids family members to get more
computer time. User gradually withdraws into an artificial world.

⮚ Depression
Technology creates the perfect recipe for depression with the lack of human contact,
overeating and lack of exercise. There is a reason the use of antidepressants are on
the rise and the blame can’t be completely dumped on the pharmaceutical
companies.They aren’t carting people into the doctor’s office and force feeding them
the pills. This isn’t to say that depression isn’t a real problem, but some people could
cure their depression by living a healthier lifestyle.

⮚ Obesity
Children are also becoming more obese because they aren’t getting the daily
exercise they need. Studies have also shown that “Daily overuse of media and
technology has a negative effect on the health of all children, pre-teens and
teenagers by making them more prone to anxiety, depression, and other
psychological disorders, as well as by making them more susceptible to future health
problems.” When it comes to children who play video games, these children “are
likely to increase their snacking and food intake, and are also more prone to make
unhealthy food choices.” With unhealthy food choices and the lack of exercise
children are gaining more weight.

⮚ Lack of Privacy
The internet has stripped the world of privacy. Long gone are the days of having an
unlisted telephone number and staying offline to keep your information safe from
prying eyes. With a few flicks on a keyboard the average person can find anyone’s
address and contact information. For those with more sinister intentions, the use of
phishing, viruses and hacking helps to find any information they wish to obtain. Plus,
people have no sense of privacy online. They don’t think twice about tweeting every
move they make, freely giving out their location on Google Map and putting their
entire life story on Facebook.

⮚ Reduced Attention Span

The use of social media has shortened our attention span from 12 minutes to 5
minutes. Constant news feeds, getting information in 140 characters and videos that
are 10 minutes or less has literally rewired our brains. People who are online an
average of 5 hours a day have trouble remembering people’s names, forget pots on
the stove and even their own birthday.

⮚ Lack of Social Bonds among Individuals

Interviews, starting from one for an internship to big job firms are also conducted
online and it is true that this does add to our convenience. Also, there have been
rising number of relationships that grew over social media and many relationships
that exist via the same. These social networking sites have created a virtual world
where the users have grown complacent and this slices down their need to meet
someone face-to-face or have social bonds with others in the actual world. It’s like a
virtual world within the actual where each individual has been reduced to his own
singular world. Thus everything gets shrunk to a screen and most of us fail to
acquire the social skills for good communication and interaction.

⮚ Finding Solace in the Virtual World

Using the internet as an escape from real life is very easy to do. In real life you only
speak to a few people each day, there’s no Photoshop or avatar for the reflection in
your mirror, bills must be paid and saying smartass things is frowned upon.
However, online you are a freaking rock star! You have enough “friends” to form a
small country, you look great in your pics or you have a kickass avatar, plus you get
rewards or points for saying clever things (more if the clever thing is also mean-
spirited). Unfortunately we must live in the real world whether we like it or not.

⮚ Fosters Self Centred Attention Seeking Behaviour

We all like to talk about ourselves or the things which interest us, which is the most
basic reason social networking sites work. Those who shy away from doing so are
unlikely to be on Facebook or Twitter, or if they are, their accounts will likely be
sitting unloved and untouched. But there is passing on important news and telling
anecdotes that will interest people, and then there is detailing every single aspect of
your life, no matter how dull or uninteresting it may be. Social networking sites bring
out this side in many people, turning them into crashing bores who will detail what
they ate for breakfast and the manner in which their body expelled it several hours
later. Youngsters especially could become convinced that they are more important
than anyone else, and that what they have to say should be read and responded to
by a wider audience. There is also vague booking, which is a crime in its own right.

⮚ Developmental issues in Children

Children are using more technology now than they have ever used in the past. All of
the negative effects that social media and television is having on adults are far
greater when it comes to the developing minds of children. There is no way to know
what long term effect technology will have on our children because this is the first
generation to have unlimited access.

⮚ Higher Energy Consumption

Although individual devices are becoming more energy efficient, the increased
overall use is causing a higher consumption of energy. People don’t turn their
devices off; they keep computers on or plugged in, mobile devices charging and
televisions plugged in. Also manufacturing all of these high tech toys causes an
increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

⮚ Lack of Social Boundaries

Much in the same way that people over share on social media sites, there is an
increasing tendency to cross social boundaries. Cyber stalking someone or sending
unsolicited nude photos are examples of grossly crossing social boundaries

⮚ Who are your real friends?

The idea of friends was once very simple. If you knew someone, hung out with them
regularly, and liked their company then they were a friend. While the people who still
fit that description are still your friends, so are the people you have connected with
on social networking sites apparently. Whether you talk to them, care about what
they’re up to, or have any interest in them whatsoever, they’re still listed as friends.
This has muddied the waters considerably. I know several people who have
thousands of friends on social networking sites. Do they really? Or do they in fact
have a dozen real friends and hundreds of people they have met once and then
added to their Facebook or Google+? I suspect future generations will be unable to
distinguish between meaningful relationships and casual acquaintances.

⮚ Social Isolation
There’s no doubt that modern technology has improved the communication between
people. However, there is a serious lack of contact with other people and social
activities. We isolate ourselves because we prefer communicating online and we
avoid face-to-face interaction. One day when we will need to call a real friend, we will
realize that we cannot trust in someone whom we know only from the Internet.

⮚ De Quervain syndrome
Tendonitis in the thumb, a.k.a. Blackberry/iPhone Thumb, is a form of repetitive
strain injury caused by the frequent use of thumbs to press buttons on mobile
devices. The same injury can also be obtained from playing too many video games.

⮚ High level of Deceit

On the flip side of having no privacy, people use the internet to deceive others. Most
people don’t dig too deeply when doing a search on someone to check them out. By
creating a few false profiles, people are able to pretend to be whomever they want.
People are being “catfished” on dating sites. Hell, you could be talking to someone
on the FBI’s top ten most wanted list and not realize it until you see them getting
arrested on the news.

⮚ Aggression
If children are exposed to violence on TV and in video games, they pick up on those
actions, and are likely to act more aggressively towards others. Watching violence
on TV makes people think that it is okay and normal to be violent towards others.
“Younger children are still developing their cognitive capacity to differentiate between
fantasy and reality. Therefore, preschool and school-age children are more sensitive
to the effects of media violence than adolescents, according to the Media Awareness
Network.” This is why children are more likely to have violent behaviour because
they are unaware that the behaviour is not acceptable in our society. Teenagers are
“are more likely to view media violence as fictional action meant to entertain.”

⮚ Compromise On Sleep Habits

Another negative effect of technology is the lack of sleep. Our online activities can
keep us up too late and the ambient glow from the screens of our devices affects the
release of melatonin (the sleep chemical). The best solution would be to keep
technology out of our bedrooms.
⮚ Causing Distraction & Harming Productivity
Social networking sites are some of the worst offenders. Purely because they’re a
constant stream of news and views from people who, for the most part, you want to
listen to. Then there are the games, such as Angry Birds, Facebook Scrabble,
and Zynga Poker, which tempt you into playing for five minutes and end up
consuming your whole afternoon. If you have a whole afternoon to spare then great,
no harm done. But what about those working or studying? The distraction is harmful
to productivity, and isn’t going to do society any good in the long term.

⮚ Lack of Sexual Boundaries

Exposure to sexual content is more likely to happen at a much younger age. Before
the internet the only chance a child had of being exposed to pornography was if their
dad didn’t hide his Playboy magazine well enough. Now, well, let’s just say you pray
your filters are doing their job when your kid searches for “Puss and Donkey” from
Shrek. Sexting is also a concern with technology being used at such a young age.
There is no way in hell a girl would have taken a nude photo of herself and handed it
to a guy before the popularity of texting. Yet, using your phone to snap a quick boob
shot and texting it to your boyfriend seems to be no big deal. If you wouldn’t print the
picture out and hand it to the guy, then you shouldn’t text it. And guys and girls do
not want pictures of your penis. So stop sending them.

⮚ Neck and Head Pain

Constantly looking down at devices can cause neck pain and over time will cause
the neck to lose its natural curve. Eyestrain can also cause headaches, blurred
vision and migraines.

⮚ Lack Of Empathy
The constant stream of violent scenes on video games, TV, movies and YouTube
causes people to become desensitized to destruction of any kind. The normalizing of
bad things happening and the culture of narcissism created by social media creates
a society of people who lack empathy. When people stop caring, the world goes to
hell in a hand basket.

⮚ Breaking Up of Relationships
Reconnecting with old friends from school may seem a nice idea, and in many ways
it is. You have a lot to talk about, stories to tell, and reminiscences to bond over. But
you may reconnect with someone you once adored from afar. And now that you’re all
grown-up you may get the urge to explore feelings that went unrequited 20 or 30
years ago. If you’re already in a relationship this could spell disaster. It isn’t just old
flames, either. People use social networking sites to hook up. Even if it’s a hook up
of the extra-marital variety. I hate to think of the number of relationships and even
marriages that have ended as a result of social networking. And when they do,
where is the first place people share the news? On that same social networking site,
of course.
2. Discuss in detail the impact of IT on environment along with its merits and
demerits?
Ans:

Positive impact of IT on Environment

Remote Sensing:
Due to remote sensing, various tasks have become easy in today’s world. RADAR
and SONAR are two primary applications of IT in today’s world where we can sense
incoming trajectories without physical transfer of knowledge. With the help of
harnessing radio waves, we can detect the outside environment without even looking
outside. Other applications of remote sensing, mobile phones, Wi-Fi, remote
controlled systems are now easily available in many households.
⮚ Ground-based platforms: ground, vehicles and/or towers => up to 50 m
⮚ Airborne platforms: airplanes, helicopters, high-altitude aircrafts, balloons => up to
50 km
⮚ Space borne: rockets, satellites, shuttle => from about 100 km to 36000 km
⮚ Space shuttle: 250-300 km
⮚ Space station: 300-400 km
⮚ Low-level satellites: 700-1500 km
⮚ High-level satellites: about 36000 km
Active Remote Sensors
They provide their own energy source for illumination. The sensor emits radiation
which is directed toward the target to be investigated. The radiation reflected from
that target is detected and measured by the sensor.
Examples:
LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)
RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging)

Passive Remote Sensors

Remote sensing systems which measure energy that is naturally available are called
passive sensors.
Examples:
Passive microwave radiometer that detects naturally emitted microwave energy.
Radiometers that measure reflected (or backscattered) sun light from the
atmosphere and ocean.
Applications of remote sensing:
⮚ Meteorology: Profiling of atmospheric temp. and water vapor, Measuring wind
velocity
⮚ Oceanography: Measurements of sea surface temperature, Mapping ocean
currents
⮚ Geology: Identification of rock types, Location of geological faults and anomalies
⮚ Agriculture: Monitoring the extend and type of vegetation, Mapping soil types
⮚ Hydrology: Assessing water resources, Forecasting melt water run-off from snow
⮚ Disaster control: Warning of sand and dust storms, flooding, Monitoring of
pollution

Human Health
Healthcare has leaped bounds due to evolution of IT in today’s world. MRI scans, X-
Rays, etc devices are being made in mass production and is reached out into
hospitals at ends of the world. New researches and practices are available
universally to everyone due to the impact of IT. Information about new diseases, new
viruses, etc. is spread to common public with immediate notice to safeguard the
general public.

Database
Due to Google cloud, iCloud, Dropbox, etc, data can be easily transferred across the
globe with the click of a button. Banking has reached into online banking and mobile
banking due to the integration with IT. College applications, Census, economies of
countries is easily recorded and implemented across the world with the help of IT

Role of IT in Environment
IT in Agriculture
⮚ Tool for direct contribution to productivity
⮚ An indirect tool for empowering farmers
⮚ Rural access and connectivity

Information Technology (IT) has long been viewed as having great potential for
improving decision making in agriculture. IT has connected the world globally and is
now changing our life style and social consciousness dynamically. In all phases of
the agricultural industry, information technologies are vital to the management and
success of a business. Agriculture has also been greatly influenced by IT.

Information Technology is rapidly becoming more and more visible in society and
agriculture. IT refers to how we use information, how we compute information, and
how we communicate information to people. People must have computer and
information technology. To participate and make informed decisions in the
agricultural industry a person must have ability to gather, process, and manipulate
data.

The Internet is a standing topic in newspapers and on television, and the number of
users doubles every year. People who use information technology creatively are
pioneering careers in agriculture today. Jobs in today's agricultural workforce require
greater use of technological skills than ever before.

IT supports new methods for precision agriculture like computerized farm machinery
that applies for fertilizers and pesticides. Farm animals are fed and monitored by
electronic sensors and identification systems. Selling or buying online began to
become popular in the world. However, it's most important role remains
communication, and the Internet has provided us with an ideal opportunity to do so.
One such communication tool is the Web Site, which simply replaces the newspaper
as a communication tool. Presently, almost every company has its own web site

The following are specific ways information technologies being applied through
agricultural education:
⮚ Basic Internet Applications
⮚ PowerPoint Presentations
⮚ Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
⮚ E-Commerce

In order to take the real status of agricultural production and marketing, there is an
urgent need to develop the following items:
Farmers' crop database must be managed. The database includes the kinds of
crops, the size of cultivated area, time of harvest and yield. Farmers or the extension
personnel transmit those data via the Internet to a database server.
Crops information service system should be created.
There are many ways in which Information Technology can be used to exchange the
information rather effectively through communication like information kiosks which
provide not only the basic services like email, helps in education, health services,
Agriculture and Irrigation, online trading, community services etc., expert systems
which helps in determining marketing alternatives and optimal strategies for
producers, integrated crop management systems for different crops.

The use of IT in agribusiness in some countries is quite advanced. The situation in

Sri Lanka is quite different, with low levels of computer literacy and usage in the farm
sector, with technology transfer 'across the last mile' remaining the weakest link in
the Sri Lanka. But farmers often go to great efforts to obtain better information, and
much attention is being given by the Government and NGOs to the development of
wireless networks, tele centers and other methods for promoting IT access and
knowledge diffusion in the rural sector in Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, IT is likely to
become increasingly important in innovation diffusion in agriculture, in both
developed countries and in developing economies such as Sri Lanka. In
implementing policies to this end, Sri Lanka must give due attention to the complex
interactions between the many players to the role of tacit knowledge and social
actors, and to the low level of the IT literacy in the rural sector.

Lack of information at the proper time causes a huge loss to farmers. This gap in
communication may be bridged by information technology. Information of the
required quality always has the potential of improving efficiency in all spheres of
agriculture.
In the context of rice processing industry the potential of information technology can
be assessed broadly under two heads: (a) as a tool for direct contribution to rice
milling productivity and (b) as an indirect tool for empowering millers to take informed
and quality decisions which will have positive impact on the way rice processing and
allied activities are conducted.

The techniques of remote sensing using satellite technologies, geographical

information systems, and agronomy and soil sciences are used to increase the rice
output. This approach is capital intensive and useful where large tracts of land are
involved.

The use of IT in agriculture has grown rapidly in the past few years. It is increasingly
being used to help managers make better decisions. However, IT and the problem
facing decision makers are constantly changing. Thus, future information systems for
research purposes will be significantly different than current systems because of
these changes. IT has been one of the most aspired fields in today's world.
Integrating IT with agriculture will help any country to regulate its overall economy
and trade. The different Information Technologies like Expert System in Decision
Support System and Remote Sensing have brought revolution in world agriculture.

The main phases of the agriculture industry include crop cultivation, water
management, fertilizer application, pest management, harvesting, post-harvest
handling, transport of food products, packaging, food preservation, food
processing/value addition, quality management, food safety, food storage, and food
marketing.
All stakeholders of agriculture industry need information and knowledge about these
phases to manage them efficiently. Any system applied for getting information and
knowledge for making decisions in any industry should deliver accurate, complete,
concise information in time or on time. The information provided by the system must
be in user-friendly form, easy to access, cost-effective and well protected from
unauthorized accesses.
Record text, drawings, photographs, audio, video, process descriptions, and other
information in digital formats, produce exact duplicates of such information at
significantly lower cost, transfer information and knowledge rapidly over large
distances through communications networks.
Develop standardized algorithms to large quantities of information relatively rapidly.
Achieve greater interactivity in communicating, evaluating, producing and sharing
useful information and knowledge.

Future Prospects
Technology is expanding rapidly and touches almost all areas of human activity. It is
therefore essential that farmers can participate in the creation of web sites for their
farms.
Agricultural universities must prepare not only students to use new IT, but must also
help farmers in better use of the web by different means, e.g., extension services,
and creating new specific websites

Google Earth:
Google Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was
originally called Earth Viewer 3D created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) funded company acquired by Google in 2004 (see In-Q-Tel). It maps
the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite imagery, aerial
photography and geographic information system (GIS) onto a 3D globe. It was
originally available with three different licenses, but has since been reduced to just
two: Google Earth (a free version with limited function) and Google Earth Pro, which
is now free (it previously cost $399 a year) and is intended for commercial use. The
third original option, Google Earth Plus, has been discontinued.

The release of Google Earth in June 2005 to the public caused a more than tenfold
increase in media coverage on virtual globes between 2004 and 2005, driving public
interest in geospatial technologies and applications. As of October 2011, Google
Earth has been downloaded more than a billion times.

Google Earth displays satellite images of varying resolution of the Earth's surface,
allowing users to see things like cities and houses looking perpendicularly down or at
an oblique angle (see also bird's eye view). The degree of resolution available is
based somewhat on the points of interest and popularity, but most land (except for
some islands) is covered in at least 15 meters of resolution. Maps showing a visual
representation of Google Earth coverage Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Las Vegas,
Nevada, USA; and Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom include examples
of the highest resolution, at 15 cm (6 inches). Google Earth allows users to search
for addresses for some countries, enter coordinates, or simply use the mouse to
browse to a location.

For large parts of the surface of the Earth only 2D images are available, from almost
vertical photography. Viewing this from an oblique angle, there is perspective in the
sense that objects which are horizontally far away are seen smaller, like viewing a
large photograph, not quite like a 3D view.

For other parts of the surface of the Earth, 3D images of terrain and buildings are
available. Google Earth uses digital elevation model (DEM) data collected by NASA's
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). This means one can view almost the
entire earth in three dimensions.

Some people use the applications to add their own data, making them available
through various sources, such as the Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) or blogs
mentioned in the link section below. Google Earth is able to show various kinds of
images overlaid on the surface of the earth and is also a Web Map Service client.
Google Earth supports managing three-dimensional Geospatial data through
Keyhole Markup Language (KML)

ENVIS
Realising the importance of Environmental Information, the Government of India, in
December, 1982, established an Environmental Information System (ENVIS) as a
plan programme. The focus of ENVIS since inception has been on providing
environmental information to decision makers, policy planners, scientists and
engineers, research workers, etc. all over the country. Since environment is a broad-
ranging, multi-disciplinary subject, a comprehensive information system on
environment would necessarily involve effective participation of concerned
institutions/ organisations in the country that are actively engaged in work relating to
different subject areas of environment. ENVIS has, therefore, developed itself with a
network of such participating institutions/organisations for the programme to be
meaningful. A large number of nodes, known as ENVIS Centres, have been
established in the network to cover the broad subject areas of environment with a
Focal Point in the Ministry of Environment & Forests. Both the Focal Point as well as
the ENVIS Centres has been assigned various responsibilities to achieve the Long-
term & Short-term objectives. For this purpose, various services have been
introduced by the Focal Point. ENVIS due to its comprehensive network has been
designed as the National Focal Point (NFP) for INFOTERRA, a global environmental
information network of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In order
to strengthen the information activities of the NFP, ENVIS was designated as the
Regional Service Centre (RSC) of INFOTERRA of UNEP in 1985 for the South Asia
Sub-Region countries.

Some important benefits of IT -

⮚ IT decreases consumption
⮚ E- books
⮚ Save millions of trees every year
⮚ Eliminates Manufacturing Process
⮚ No Disposal
⮚ Less Printing Inks
⮚ Emails
⮚ Reduces mailing process
⮚ Saves thousands of trees daily

IT decreases Transportation
⮚ Automation
⮚ Online Classrooms
⮚ Physical entities � Virtual Entities
⮚ Less Pollution
⮚ Reduction in CO2 Levels
⮚ Global Awareness
o Global Warming
o Earth Day
o Google Doodle

Health Information Technology (HIT)

Dramatically reduces green house emissions
Produces important environmental savings

HIT Benefits
⮚ Digitizing X-Ray Images
⮚ Medical Charts
⮚ Virtual Visits
⮚ Online Prescriptions
⮚ Positive Net Effect

Negative impacts of IT on environment

Many of the technologies we use every day consume a lot more resources and power
than they need to, and using and manufacturing them can create a mess. Here are a
few of the ways that technology can harm the environment:

⮚ Pollution - Air, water, heat and noise pollution can all be caused by producing and
using technology.

⮚ Consuming resources - Non-renewable resources, including precious metals like

gold, are used to make technology. Many others, such as coal, are consumed to
generate the electricity to use technology. Even some renewable resources, like
trees and water, are becoming contaminated or are used up faster than they can
renew themselves because of technology.

⮚ Waste - Manufacturing technology creates large amounts of waste, and used

computers and electronics get thrown out when they break or become outdated,
called "Technotrash," these electronics contain all sorts of hazardous materials that
are very unsafe for the environment. They need to be disposed of using special
methods.
⮚ Disrupting ecology - Clearing land where animals used to live to build factories and
allowing pollution to contaminate the food chain can greatly affect the
environment's natural cycles.

⮚ Health hazards - Using toxic materials that can harm our health can cause cancer,
and technology addiction can lead to other health problems like obesity and carpal
tunnel syndrome.

E-waste: It is defined as defined as discarded computers, an office electronic

equipment, entertainment device electronics, mobile phones, television sets and
refrigerators.
There is no generally accepted definition of e-waste. Unwanted, obsolete or unusable
electronic products such as computers, computer peripherals, televisions, VCRs, DVD
Players, stereo equipment, hand cell phones are commonly referred to as ‘electronic
waste’
Increased ownership and rapid obsolescence combine to lead to rapidly growing
volume of unwanted electronics. Circuit boards are treated to extract copper and
precious metals using acids and cyanide, polluting local water systems. Combustion
from burning e-waste creates fine particulate matter, which is linked to pulmonary and
cardiovascular disease
In landfills a certain amount of chemical and metal leaching will occur. PBDE and the
cadmium may leach into the soil and groundwater. Dangerous elements from e waste
honey bee colony collapse disorder. E-waste is now the fastest growing, and most
toxic, component of municipal garbage. Local governments are facing huge costs to
handle e-waste, and even greater costs if they do not capture this toxic stream and
handle it in an appropriate manner.

Carbon Emissions:
Carbon emissions, mostly carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, are greenhouse
gasses that are produced by people. Greenhouse gasses are gasses in the
atmosphere that trap and reflect heat and radiation back to the planet's surface. It is
believed that over the last century, the amount of greenhouse gasses in the
atmosphere has increased due to carbon emissions, and that they are contributing to
global warming. Carbon emissions get released into the atmosphere from things like
cars, air planes, power plants and factories. They also get released by people like you,
when you use a vehicle or electricity created from burning fossil fuels. The computer
you're using to read this is using electricity, and so is your mobile device and video
game system. We're all guilty of enjoying things that aren't exactly eco-friendly, but if
we're smarter about how we use technology, we can reduce our environmental impact.

3. Describe in detail about E-waste. List various sources of E-waste and ways
to minimise it.
Ans

Electronic waste, also called e-waste, various forms of electric and electronic
equipment that have ceased to be of value to their users or no longer satisfy their
original purpose. Electronic waste (e-waste) products have exhausted their utility
value through either redundancy, replacement, or breakage and include both “white
goods” such as refrigerators, washing machines, and microwaves and “brown
goods” such as televisions, radios, computers, and cell phones. Given that the
information and technology revolution has exponentially increased the use of new
electronic equipment, it has also produced growing volumes of obsolete products; e-
waste is one of the fastest-growing waste streams. Although e-waste contains
complex combinations of highly toxic substances that pose a danger to health and
the environment, many of the products also contain recoverable precious materials,
making it a different kind of waste compared with traditional municipal waste.
Globally, e-waste constitutes more than 5 percent of all municipal solid waste and is
increasing with the rise of sales of electronic products in developing countries. The
majority of the world’s e-waste is recycled in developing countries, where informal
and hazardous setups for the extraction and sale of metals are common. Recycling
companies in developed countries face strict environmental regulatory regimes and
an increasing cost of waste disposal and thus may find exportation to small traders in
developing countries more profitable than recycling in their own countries. There is
also significant illegal transboundary movement of e-waste in the form of donations
and charity from rich industrialized nations to developing countries. E-waste
profiteers can harvest substantial profits owing to lax environmental laws, corrupt
officials, and poorly paid workers, and there is an urgent need to develop policies
and strategies to dispose of and recycle e-waste safely in order to achieve a
sustainable future.

It is taking up valuable landfill space

A study by the USA showed that 1-2% of municipal waste is made up of e-waste
A further research estimates the growing of e-waste at 3 times the rate of other waste
streams.
It is also estimated that between 1997 and 2007,500 million computers became
obsolete

Sources of E-Waste:
Impact on Health:

The complex composition and improper handling of e-waste adversely affect human
health. A growing body of epidemiological and clinical evidence has led to increased
concern about the potential threat of e-waste to human health, especially in
developing countries such as India and China. The primitive methods used by
unregulated backyard operators (e.g., the informal sector) to reclaim, reprocess, and
recycle e-waste materials expose the workers to a number of toxic substances.
Processes such as dismantling components, wet chemical processing, and
incineration are used and result in direct exposure and inhalation of harmful
chemicals. Safety equipment such as gloves, face masks, and ventilation fans are
virtually unknown, and workers often have little idea of what they are handling. For
instance, in terms of health hazards, open burning of printed wiring boards increases
the concentration of dioxins in the surrounding areas. These toxins cause an
increased risk of cancer if inhaled by workers and local residents. Toxic metals and
poison can also enter the bloodstream during the manual extraction and collection of
tiny quantities of precious metals, and workers are continuously exposed to
poisonous chemicals and fumes of highly concentrated acids. Recovering resalable
copper by burning insulated wires causes neurological disorders,
and acute exposure to cadmium, found in semiconductors and chip resistors, can
damage the kidneys and liver and cause bone loss. Long-term exposure to lead
on printed circuit boards and computer and television screens can damage the
central and peripheral nervous system and kidneys, and children are more
susceptible to these harmful effects.
Impact on Environment:

Although electronics constitute an indispensable part of everyday life, their

hazardous effects on the environment cannot be overlooked or underestimated. The
interface between electrical and electronic equipment and the environment takes
place during the manufacturing, reprocessing, and disposal of these products. The
emission of fumes, gases, and particulate matter into the air, the discharge of liquid
waste into water and drainage systems, and the disposal of hazardous wastes
contribute to environmental degradation. In addition to tighter regulation of e-waste
recycling and disposal, there is a need for policies that extend the responsibility of all
stakeholders, particularly the producers, beyond the point of sale and up to the end
of product life.

There are a number of specific ways in which e-waste recycling can be damaging to
the environment. Burning to recover metal from wires and cables leads to emissions
of brominated and chlorinated dioxins, causing air pollution. During the recycling
process in the informal sector, toxic chemicals that have no economic value are
simply dumped. The toxic industrial effluent is poured into underground aquifers and
seriously affects the local groundwater quality, thereby making the water unfit for
human consumption or for agricultural purposes. Atmospheric pollution is caused by
dismantling activities as dust particles loaded with heavy metals and flame
retardants enter the atmosphere. These particles either redeposit (wet or dry
deposition) near the emission source or, depending on their size, can be transported
over long distances. The dust can also enter the soil or water systems and,
with compounds found in wet and dry depositions, can leach into the ground and
cause both soil and water pollution. Soils become toxic when substances such as
lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are
deposited in landfills.
Ways to Minimise E-Waste:
Old mobile phones used to grow flowers

In the United Kingdom, a research team at the University of Warwick’s Warwick

Manufacturing Group, has devised an innovative way to recycle discarded mobile
telephones. Led by Dr. Kerry Kirwan, scientists along with PVAXX R&D Ltd. and
Motorola created a mobile telephone case or cover that, when discarded, can be
simply placed in compost, so that in a few weeks the case starts to disintegrate and
turn into flower. This was achieved by incorporating two changes into the cover.
First, a special formulation of PVAXX’s biodegradable polymer range was developed
with the help of materials experts at Warwick, that produces a high quality finish but
which also biodegrades easily in soil. Secondly, engineers at Warwick University
created a small transparent window in the case in which a seed is embedded. The
seed is visible to the environmentally aware mobile phone user but will not germinate
until the phone cover is recycled. For the first prototype mobile covers, the team has
used dwarf sunflower seeds.
Dismantling mobile phones

At Nokia, the on-going Design for Environment programme is aimed at minimizing

material and energy use whilst maximizing recovery and recycling of its products. A
team of researchers at the Nokia Research Centre, Helsinki University of
Technology, Finnish School of Watchmaking, and the University of Art and Design,
Helsinki, have developed a new process for heat disassembly of portable devices.
The concept is to disassemble a mobile phone via a heat activated mechanism
without any contact. By making use of a centralized heat source like laser, the shape
memory alloy actuator is activated and the mobile phone covers are opened. The
battery, display, printed wiring board (PWB) and mechanical modules are separated,
which can then be recycled in their material-specific recycling methods. The
essential temperature for disassembly is about 60o-150oC. A lower temperature may
lead to dismantling of the phone by itself, for instance in a hot car, and a higher
temperature might cause the plastics to melt. The new heat activated mechanism is
a fast and low-cost procedure when compared with manual dismantling. The heat-
activated disassembly requires only two seconds and the only cost is the investment
in a disassembly line. However, additional refinements are necessary prior to
commercialization. Also, other disassembly processes for electronic equipment are
being investigated. One of the options is dismantling by robots