Connecting the Electronic Dots: Ecological and Social Dimensions of the Global Information Revolution

Abstract

The information revolution and the global environmental crisis may be transforming our world. Yet it is surprising that there is so little discussion of the links between these two international trends. Technologies often generate far-reaching environmental impacts, including many that are unan ticipated and remain unrecognized. As the historian Edward Tenner ( 1997) once observed, history is loaded with examples of new technologies that "bite back" with unanticipated consequences. When climate scientists refer to the unmistakable influence of human activities on global warming, what we are really talking about is the carbon emissions from driving your car, using a computer to send e-mail, and reading your book at night. Even as we turn to technological innovation and development to save us from the global environmental crisis, we tend to forget that our overdependence on and con sumption of technologies is likely to have brought our planet to this crisis point in the first place. With terms like "pervasive computing" gaining increasing legitimacy, there is an increasing need to explore more fully the environmental and social implications of a modern network society. I argue in this article that the introduction of new technologies has always had a profound impact on environmental and resource issues and advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) are likely