The answer to whether media technologies relate similarly to natural environments is an absolute no. Like in every other field, the impact of media technologies on the environment is enormous in terms of consumed resources. In the modern world, electricity is the primary source of power for the number of smartphones and computers used in media technology. With this comes the need for electrical energy production to satisfy the ever-increasing demand for energy. The by-products resulting from the electrical energy powers are harmful to people’s health using technology and the environment.
The evolution of media technology is tremendous, and in our lives, it has impacted both mankind and the natural environment. It remains hard to enumerate or quantify the impact technology has on the environment. In the past 20 years, it has been shown that the energy production essential in powering media technology has more than doubled, with the most considerable impact associated with the Asian continent.
Only in recent years has there been awareness creation and recognition that a relationship exists between how the processes in energy generation pollute the natural environment. With the understanding in the minds of many, the political class throughout the world has come under pressure to counter the effects that energy production has subjected to the natural environment resulting in global warming.
Despite the introduction of renewable resources in powering media technologies, references show that the growth in electronic devices requires a lot of energy to maintain every device. Going back in time, there were 415 million internet users in 2000, when internet connections took place through computers. Sixteen years later, in 2016, there were about 3.5 billion internet users, which represents an 826 percent growth. With the rise in connectivity, the numbers would increase in time.
The key stakeholders in the technology industry, Apple Inc, Samsung, and Amazon, among other technology giants, have been at the forefront of concentrating an extensive range of servers while using large cooling infrastructures and buildings to ensure sufficiency in how they operate. However, despite cloud-based internet services, these critical stakeholders still require electrical power for their operations.
Governments, on their part, have been dictating how the production of electronic devices takes place hence contributing to the different relationships between media technologies and the natural environment. Since some of the most common resources are used in producing electronic devices, governments have given tech companies the authority to be directly or indirectly involved in mining with help from the natural environment.
The demand by tech companies for resources like gold, lead, and mercury, among others, has resulted in several companies mining for the resources to provide the needed raw materials for production. In some cases, harsh chemicals are responsible for mining the resources, and they end up dumped into the ground. No concern or treatment for the environment and the people in the respective regions is shown. Some of the areas where mining has taken place are Green Valley town, located west-northwest of Arizona, and Siberia’s Mir mine.