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Dealing with Climate Change in a Digital Age



Author(s)

Rose A. Dyson

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DOI:10.17265/2159-5313/2017.08.006

Digital technologies offer unprecedented opportunities in addressing climate change as public policy requirements increasingly pervade national boundaries. Health issues now merge with those in education, the environment, energy, culture, gender, security, and the economy. They offer enormous potential in mobilizing for political action. But they also have a dark side. Outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama issued a warning that social media in particular poses an existential threat to democracy. Their pervasive influence during the 2016 American presidential election highlighted the potential for the spread of fake news and alternative facts. These realities must be recognized and addressed if meaningful policies on climate change and future sustainability are to be achieved. The challenges ahead require a re-examination of overarching trends in mass media that date back to the middle of the last century. Warnings from scientists, scholars, and community activists indicate that, on the issue of climate change, time is running out. In his Encyclical on Climate Change and Inequality, Pope Francis amplified the urgent call to action. But collectively, we need to rethink the profit driven ways in which our proliferating digital technologies mitigate potential steps toward a sustainable future. In a myriad of forms that go well beyond the seductive and addicting trends of endless hours spent online, new and proliferating digital toys and gadgets are neither carbon neutral, nor as some proponents would have us believe, do they hold the sole promise of innovation and job creation. Additionally, their potential must be harnessed to maintain rather than disrupt social stability. 

digital, health, climate, culture, economy, policy, media, sustainability, democracy, warnings, disruption, seduction