Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, listeners, I cannot thank you enough for stopping by
for another episode of the Tech Versus Humanity Podcasts, a
show dedicated to the technology of our lives. Some gadgets
we can't live without, some gadgets we probably need to.
(00:20):
Other gadgets are straight up trying to kill us. That's right.
Today's episode is dedicated to the tech that's trying to
end our lives. I mean that kind of seriously, but seriously,
(00:42):
nobody stops to think about the amount of e waste
that's out there. Discarded electronic devices, phones, computers, printers, TVs,
et cetera. All built mainly as disposable. We gotta get
a new one every year, every time the next model
(01:03):
comes out. Sure, there's ami downs and some recycling. These
items are filled with lead, cadmium, burlium, mercury, flame retardants
and PCBs. These sources of this waste are consumer upgrades
(01:24):
and tech obsolescence, corporate replacements. It's built in, folks. These
items end up in landfills, leaching heavy metals into soil
and ground water, or incineration which releases dioxins and heavy
(01:46):
metal vapors. There is informal recycling in countries like Ghana, India,
and China where workers burn wires or use acid baths
with no protection. Health risks of E waste pollution include
birth effects, respiratory issues, neurological damage. Over fifty nine million
(02:15):
metric tons of E waste has been generated globally in
twenty twenty three, only seventeen percent was properly recycled. Another
growing concern is heavy metal contamination from technology. Common metals
(02:38):
such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, neodymium, dysprosium sound familiar.
These are extracted through open pit or deep shaft mines,
which causes deforestation, soil erosion and tailings run off. In
(03:05):
the Congo, they have artisanal mining, especially for cobalt. This
involves child labor and unregulated waste. The pollution pathway starts
with soil contamination and leads straight to food chain infiltration.
(03:31):
It's caused aquatic toxicity that's led to mass and die
offs of fish and amphibians. The long term effects of
heavy metal contamination include persistent bioaccumulation, mutagenic changes in wild life,
(03:51):
as well as ecosystem collapse. We have growing amounts of
data where do you keep all your ones and zeros.
The amount of pollution from data centers is immense. Data
(04:16):
centers can consume one point five or two percent of
global electricity. Some hyperscale centers use more power than small cities.
Their cooling systems use vast quantities of water, up to
(04:39):
five million gallons per day. They generate heat islands and
discharge warm water into rivers and lakes, disrupting aquatic life.
Even cloud computing is often powered by coal heavy power grids,
(05:05):
and the frequent server upgrades equals high E waste generation.
Everybody today is concerned about their carbon footprint. It's all
the rage. What of your digital carbon footprint? You think
goes staying at home and watching Netflix? You're being green?
(05:27):
Are you streaming Netflix? And YouTube? Other videos on demand?
Equals three hundred million tons of CO two per year.
A typical spam email emits point three grams of CO two.
(05:52):
A long email chain can exceed fifty grams of CO two.
And you may be saving paper by online banking and
social media. But high energy server access, especially during peak use,
is costing CO two VR and AR and real time
(06:14):
at three D rendering drastically increase processing loads. Causing greater
demand from computers on a digital carbon footprint. Today's EV
movement is gravy, more and more batteries. All of our
devices are rechargeable. You plug them in, that's easy. Lithium
(06:40):
ion batteries have a risk of fire, toxic leeching, and
rare material shortages. Refer back to our exotic mining from
a bit of go. Nickel cadmium batteries are carcinogenic and bioaccumulative.
(07:02):
Only five percent of lithium ion batteries are currently recycled efficiently,
and illegal dumping of spent batteries creates localized pollution spikes.
Battery manufacturing contributes to air and water pollution, especially in
China and Chile. Consumer electronics and everyday devices lead to
(07:32):
a wide range of pollutants, such as microplastics. Plastic casings,
synthetic fabrics, and smart watches and phone covers. Tech wearables
all sources of microplastics. When from away and broken down,
they break down into microscopic fragments through UV friction or heat,
(07:57):
and are released during washing or general use. These microplastics
are in turn ingested by aquatic and terrestrial animals. They
can cause blood brain barriers that are found in human
placenta and bloodstream, and not all pollution is visible. What
(08:24):
of wireless radiation and EMF pollution. We'd be amazed to
see how many radio waves we're walking through every day.
Cell towers, five G antennas, Wi Fi routers, Bluetooth devices.
Some studies show no effect, others suggest links to b disorientation,
(08:52):
cell damage or infertility. Even long term exposure risks are
under continued this investigation. As we're all being continually exposed.
I hope they don't find out anything bad. Many dations
(09:12):
have outdated safety thresholds set before or five G rollouts. Packaging, packaging, packaging,
Everything comes in packaging, clamshells, styrofoam inserts, mixed material packaging.
These are all non recyclables, laminated boxes and composite materials,
(09:34):
metal plastic hybrids. And if it's not that it's green
washing eco friendly claims without real reductions in packaging, the
end result is the same landfills, clawed recycling streams and more.
(09:56):
Ocean waste. Transmission and mobility tech is causing perhaps the
most amount of pollutions vehicle emissions primary pollutants or CO
two and Knox gases, particulate matter, and VOCs. These come
(10:22):
from combustion engines and cars, trucks, planes, and even delivery drones.
All of these contribute to smog, respiratory disease, and acid rain.
Not just that, but noise pollution from traffic and tech
driven deliveries. Unfortunately, that's all the time that we've got
(10:45):
for today's episode of the Tech Versus Humanity podcasts. Just
because I'm paranoid, it doesn't mean that somebody's not out
to get me, folks, and you too. I'm just kidding.
We'll make it through this until next up. I can't
thank you enough for listening and until then,