Editing Technology (section)

=== Environmental ===
Technology can have both positive and negative effects on the environment. [[Environmental technology]], describes an array of technologies which seek to reverse, mitigate or halt environmental damage to the environment. This can include measures to [[Pollution prevention program|halt pollution]] through environmental regulations, capture and storage of pollution, or using pollutant byproducts in other industries.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Austin |first1=David |last2=Macauley |first2=Molly K. |author2-link=Molly K. Macauley |date=1 December 2001 |title=Cutting Through Environmental Issues: Technology as a double-edged sword |url=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/cutting-through-environmental-issues-technology-as-a-double-edged-sword/ |access-date=10 February 2023 |website=Brookings |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209002853/https://www.brookings.edu/articles/cutting-through-environmental-issues-technology-as-a-double-edged-sword/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Other examples of environmental technology include [[deforestation]] and the reversing of deforestation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Grainger |first1=Alan |last2=Francisco |first2=Herminia A. |last3=Tiraswat |first3=Penporn |date=July 2003 |title=The impact of changes in agricultural technology on long-term trends in deforestation |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264837703000097 |journal=The International Journal Covering All Aspects of Land Use |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=209–223 |doi=10.1016/S0264-8377(03)00009-7 |bibcode=2003LUPol..20..209G |via=Elsevier Science Direct |access-date=10 February 2023 |archive-date=10 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210214149/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264837703000097 |url-status=live }}</ref> Emerging technologies in the fields of [[climate engineering]] may be able to halt or reverse global warming and its environmental impacts,<ref>{{cite web|author=EPA|date=19 January 2017|title=Climate Impacts on Ecosystems|url=https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climate-impacts/climate-impacts-ecosystems_.html#Extinction|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127185656/https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climate-impacts/climate-impacts-ecosystems_.html#Extinction|archive-date=27 January 2018|access-date=5 February 2019|quote=Mountain and arctic ecosystems and species are particularly sensitive to climate change... As ocean temperatures warm and the acidity of the ocean increases, bleaching and coral die-offs are likely to become more frequent.}}</ref> although this remains highly controversial.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=6 November 2017 |title=What is Climate Engineering? |url=https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/what-climate-engineering |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=www.ucsusa.org |language=en |archive-date=27 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027225649/https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/what-climate-engineering |url-status=live }}</ref>  As technology has advanced, so too has the negative environmental impact, with increased release of [[greenhouse gas]]es, including [[methane]], [[nitrous oxide]] and [[carbon dioxide]], into the atmosphere, causing the [[greenhouse effect]]. This continues to gradually heat the earth, causing global warming and [[climate change]]. Measures of technological innovation correlates with a rise in greenhouse gas emissions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chaudhry |first1=Imran Sharif |last2=Ali |first2=Sajid |last3=Bhatti |first3=Shaukat Hussain |last4=Anser |first4=Muhammad Khalid |last5=Khan |first5=Ahmad Imran |last6=Nazar |first6=Raima |date=October 2021 |title=Dynamic common correlated effects of technological innovations and institutional performance on environmental quality: Evidence from East-Asia and Pacific countries |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1462901121001921 |journal=Environmental Science & Policy |volume=124 |issue=Environmental Science & Policy |pages=313–323 |doi=10.1016/j.envsci.2021.07.007 |bibcode=2021ESPol.124..313C |via=Elsevier Science Direct |access-date=14 February 2023 |archive-date=14 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214142841/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1462901121001921 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Pollution ====
Pollution, the presence of contaminants in an environment that causes adverse effects, could have been present as early as the [[Inca Empire]]. They used a [[lead sulfide]] [[Flux (metallurgy)|flux]] in the [[smelting]] of ores, along with the use of a wind-drafted clay [[kiln]], which released lead into the [[atmosphere]] and the [[sediment]] of rivers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smol |first=J. P. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/476272945 |title=Pollution of Lakes and Rivers : a Paleoenvironmental Perspective. |date=2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1444307573 |edition=2nd |location=Chichester |page=135 |oclc=476272945 |access-date=14 February 2023 |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429043125/https://search.worldcat.org/title/476272945 |url-status=live }}</ref>