Q 2. Climate change is occurring, but it is also a monster story. Discuss.

Climate change due to global warming has occurred since the Industrial revolution and is
mainly the result of human actions. Baer points out that this has resulted in the rise of
surface temperatures by nearly 0.7% in the 20th century and has resulted in the Polar
regions, the Arctic icecap and mountain glaciers receding by close to 40%. Since many
studies have been undertaken in the Arctic regions, residents there have witnessed shocking
changes (Berkes), such as changes in sea ice, both in thickness and the lack of it in the
summer months. This has also led to the finding of species of fish and other animals,
traditionally not found in Arctic waters, while birds and polar bears seem to be shrinking in
numbers. Sea levels have been rising across the globe and impacting many low-lying
countries, while seeing increasing incidents of typhoons, storms, increasing bad air quality,
fires, droughts, floods and many other changes, which are caused by the increase in global
temperatures, pollution and the trapping of greenhouse gases within the atmosphere.
However, there is a section of society, especially politicians and industrialists, who claim
that there is little concrete evidence that conclusively links global warming and climate
change together and Sahlin quotes Bruno Latour, who in his article ‘Critical Enquiry’ states
that a Republican lobbyist advocates that there is lack of scientific fact that climate change
is to blame for global warming, in order to ensure that industrialists continue to make
profits. This take on global warming suggests that humans have little to do with the changes
that are taking place and mankind’s acts of pollution have little to do with global warming.
Nonetheless, climate change is occurring, bringing with it disastrous consequences like a
monster rising from the deep.

The study of climate change began in the 1990’s with social scientists leading the way, and
environmentalists like Greenpeace advocated change. However, politicians and economists
changed the perspective and began advocating for exploiting the earth’s resources and
stated that this would benefit humanity and slowly the scientific community lost the race
(McCright and Dunlap). Moreover, counter-claims emerged, which suggested that global
warming has no scientific basis and the evidence was wrong, would benefit humanity in the
long run and lastly, action to stop global warming would result in more harm than good. This
is seen as pandering to the American ideas of free markets and capitalism and therefore
industry should be allowed to function without any government or other controls. However,
Bereks shows us how a study conducted in conjunction by the Canadian govt and the Inuit
residents of Sachs harbor, using both western and indigenous knowledge, showed that
hunting was getting more difficult and the thinness of the ice was creating safety problems
for the Inuit. Moreover, another study in James Bay showed that despite the population of
Canada goose staying healthy, there was a major decline in the numbers found on the coast,
due to the creation of James Bay hydroelectric project leading to creation of several small
reservoir islands was drawing the geese away and leading to number of geese, a major food
supply for the Cree people. another change was the thinning of the ice making travel harder
and a changed the ecological balance, as it seemed that spring was arriving earlier, leading
to changes in traditional practices. All these effects of global warming and climate change in
reality show the dangers of such unchecked human actions and is contrary to the view taken
by the anti-conservatory movement. Further, though lobbyists, industrialists and politicians
may claim that there is little scientific basis that global warming causes climate change,
there is enough proof and scientific knowledge to show that global warming will have severe
economic, health, political and social fallouts (Baer). The impacts will be felt across the
world and range from farmers to fishermen, residents of beachside communities, tourism
and hospitality industry to indigenous natives in the artic and all the way to Australia and
the East. Europe will see colder weather; floods and the ancient city of Venice is likely to
further submerge into the sea. This monster story doesn’t see a pleasant end and will
continue to impact the earth and mankind even more strongly, if man does not collectively
take emergency measures to curb the spread of global warming. As Baer so aptly states,
mankind will have to take steps to curb global warming, even through the use of more
renewable sources of energy, more efficient transportation or curb modes of transport such
as cars and planes, which contribute significantly towards global warming and many other
measures, encompassing man’s entire way of life.

Q5. Why are technological advancements and/or industrial developments often talked
about as if they were monsters?

Alvin Toffler said that technology feeds upon itself, an aspersion which likens it to cannibals
and monsters, as humans perceive it. The past three decades have seen sort of a second
industrial revolution, but this time powered by technology and not the steam engine. One
can see the plethora of devices in use everywhere ranging from mobile phones, Bluetooth
speakers to vehicles that run on electricity. Phone makers launch new phones every year
and some do so twice a year. Consumers change phones regularly and it is very evident that
all these new devices are manufactured to last only a finite period of time, unlike in the past
when electronic devices were used till they no longer worked and many were repaired over
and over. Today, life is not only materialistic but also consumerist and manufacturers use
technology or industrial advancements to offer newer and newer products in their never
ending quest for higher profits (Baer). New technologies may be better and more
productive, however, most of them come at a cost, firstly in raw materials and resources,
which are being used in infinite more numbers. Moreover, many of these new technologies
have long-term costs, which are not factored into the price of the product nor taken into
account in any other manner. Flying has become much cheaper and new technologies allow
more and more people to fly, nonetheless, the carbon footprint of flying per person is
extremely high and leads to global warming. Cars have become cheaper and less polluting,
however, this allows more and more people to buy them, which results in increased levels
of pollution, use of petroleum and wastage of time on the roads. Advances in genetics has
led to GMO food products, however, the rises in incidents of cancer and other sicknesses in
only increasing and though there isn’t enough evidence connecting the two at the moment,
there are fears that altering genetic profiles may result in health issues in the future.

The advances in computer technology have proven a boon for many businesses and
consumers, as it allows faster communication, more productivity and various other benefits.
However, the same advances are leading to the misuse of the technology, as is evidenced by
the news of the Pegasus software to spy on communications between political leaders,
lawyers and other important people Further, as new technologies emerge, there is further
desire or need to create more advanced systems, or improve on existing ones, as it is
believed that the newer technology can achieve more, furthermore, technology feeds on
itself and allows the creation of even newer technologies. This is particularly evidenced in
the field of computers, medicine and AI. Additionally, AI is already in the process of creating
newer technologies and if scientists achieve their goals of true artificial intelligence, the day
is not far, when machines will create more machines, in essence truly feeding on itself.
Helman compares this to the character of Frankenstein, wherein man seeks to challenge
God by creating life. This is similar to technology creating more technologies and thus
integrating itself in human society. Who hasn’t seen movies like Terminator, where
machines aka technology has taken over the world? This is one of the reasons which pushes
one to liken technology to a monster. Technology is considered a great leveller and allows
people from developing nations to access the internet and gain information and other
knowledge, however, the same technology is also used to monitor people and learn of their
behaviour, spending habits and other preferences and this is being misused for commercial
and other gain. Further, technology has evolved into something where virtually anything can
be weaponised, including pacemakers and other medical devices, which are initially
developed to save lives.

As technology evolves, it not only allows further evolvement but much faster evolvement
and this speed carries on without any brakes. Our parent’s generation saw tv’s come into
the market, but we are growing up on virtual streaming and carry around miniature
computers in our pockets, which allow us to do more than supercomputers did 3 decades
back, however, this revolution or development has come at a price, we are constantly
monitored through the same device, we bank through it but we can be swindled through it.
Therefore, if technology is not a monster that feeds on itself, I wonder what is?