Describe the indirect impacts of mobile phones on the environment and people.
Be able to identify trends in data and use this to predict future trends
Explain links between local level issues and global concerns
Mobile phones - impacts of change
Mining
When looking at the environmental changes brought about by industry and mining around the world, geographers need to explore a range of possible causes. One of the main factors driving the growth in mining and production is increased demand for electronic consumer goods such as mobile phones. Current estimates put the number of mobile phone subscribers around the world at about 6 billion. This number has increased significantly over the past decade (see Source 5). The raw materials used in the production of mobile phones come from different locations around the world. Dramatic increases in demand for these materials has created serious environmental problems in a number of locations.
Plastics
Plastics are a by-product (an incidental or secondary product made in the manufacture) of refining oil. Oil is usually found in the Earth’s crust and is accessed by drilling into the crust, either on land or on the seabed. There are significant environmental risks associated with mining and using oil:
Oil spills at the mine site
Greenhouse gases produced when oil is used for fuel.
Pollution of oceans and lands - since the 1950s, more than a billion tonnes of plastic has been discarded around the world.
Metals
Copper Because copper conducts electrical signals, it is used a great deal in electronic devices. Copper is mined in many places around the world. Chile’s Escondida copper mine is the world’s largest. The mine is essentially two giant pits dug into the desert floor. Waste rock is left in piles called tailings and copper is transported in pipes 180 kilometres to the coast. Like many large mines, Escondida is located in the desert. This creates problems for the mining operators who need water for their mining operation and their workers. A desalination plant is being built on the coast to provide this water. The water will be piped to the mine.
Coltan Coltan is a mineral ore, high in iron, that is used in mobile phones as well as video-game consoles and some computers. Australia is the world’s largest supplier of coltan. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in Africa is another large supplier. To reach the coltan in the DRC, people have:
stripped away rainforest, including the rainforest in national parks.
built roads to cut through the rainforest to reach the mines
hunted wild animals for food.
One of the animals hunted by locals for meat in the rainforest is the gorilla. The western lowland gorilla is now a critically endangered animal and has all but vanished from the rainforests of the DRC.
Questions
1. Describe how has the mining of coltan changed the environment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo? Use the table below to show direct and indirect impacts
2. Examine Source 5 carefully. a Describe the global trend in mobile phone use over the period.
3. The bird in Source 2 was found on the Midway Islands. Use Google Maps to locate these islands and explain where you think the plastic that caused the death of this and many other birds originated.
4. Select another popular consumer item of your choice and research the environmental changes brought about by its production and use.
What we learned today
Terminology
indirect impacts
by-product
ore
Content
Understanding of how mobile phones and digital devices impact on people and the environment
Be able to identify and list 3 indirect impacts of phone use