Nowadays, the whole world is facing the environmental problem such as water pollution and air pollution. This is a knotty and serious problem that related to the human life. That is why I think it should be the most important and grandest challenge for engineering. As we all know, environmental problem is one of the “side effect” caused by the development of technology and industry. Engineers cannot stop the development from polluting the environment, but what they can do is to reduce the rate of pollution and to develop new sources of energy especially environmentally friendly power instead of using fossil fuels.
The burning of fossil fuels is the main culprit that caused the increasing of planet’s temperature and air pollution. Although engineers have explored technological methods of capturing the carbon dioxide produced from fuel burning and sequestering it underground to reduce air pollution, the fossil fuels will be eliminated from the Earth anytime soon. Developing the new sources of energy without causing pollution poses provocative engineering challenges. Solar power and nuclear fusion bring new hopes but also new challenges to the engineers to make them feasible not only technologically but also economically. Once they succeed, there will be bright prospects for the development of technology and industry.
On the other hand, water is a very important element that should be sustainably provided to maintain the quality of life. That is why engineers also play important roles in controlling the quality and quantity of water. Many regions of the world are facing the seriously short supply of water, so engineers have explored the new technologies for desalinating sea water and local water purification. These new technologies are beneficial to some countries such as Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
In conclusion, environmental problem is the most important challenge that should be solved by engineers in 21st century. Through the engineering achievements of the past, do believe that engineer is the real “magician” that can make the dreams come true.
National Academy of Engineering. (2008, February). Introduction to the grand challenges of engineering. Retrieved August 20, 2008, from http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9221.aspx
Interesting discovery
10 years ago
