Wk10 Sustainability
Today’s technological advances have given us the ability to travel greater distances as part of our everyday life. Our mobilization in the 21st century is indicative of a capitalist society and the impact of our mobilization has seen the growth of global warming as “oil shortages, huge population increases and unsustainable resource … future generations may consider the ultra high-carbon… excessive and all-consuming” (Elliott and Urry, 201. PG132). Our demand on fossil fuel is ever increasing as “carbon use within transport accounts for fourteen per cent of total greenhouse emissions” (Elliot and Urry, 2010. PG3).
As we travel we become more dependent on what Elliott and Urry describe as ‘miniaturized mobilities’ these are “mobile phones, laptops and iPods”(Elliott and Urry, 2010. PG5) which helps us to stay connected, be entertained and share our thoughts with our static world. These devices have become part of our social context as they help to shape our experiences as we travel.
While these miniaturizes mobilities enable us to stay connected unless we modify our mobilization patterns global warming will continue to grow and this will eventually affect our ability to travel large distances. As part of our social context we could use our miniaturizes mobilities to address the issue of global warming and raise awareness. The European commission recently funded a CAPs project called DecarboNet. A social media platform developed to raise awareness of our environmental issues and collectively instigate behavioral change.
Those who have developed the DecarboNet platform believe that “building a collective knowledge repository enriched by third-party content from the news and social media to increase awareness among citizens about the long-term impact of their actions on climate change” (DecarboNet, 2016)
Raising awareness with projects like DecarboNet will enable us to avoid a future scenario describe by Elliott and Urry as Regional Warlordism whereby the consequences of our actions means that “ oil, gas and water shortages and intermittent wars lead to the substantial breakdown of many of our mobility, energy and communications connections”. (Elliott and Urry, 2010. PG145) the effects of which means that mobility becomes difficult and those living in fortress like conditions are better off as they less exposed and have access to technology.
Bibliography
Elliott, A. and Urry, J. (2010). Mobile lives. 1st ed. New York, N.Y. ; London: Routledge.
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