Understanding nature with IoT

Many people regard the natural world as being infinitely unsolvable, meaning, we'll never be able to fully understand precisely how the world works at any level of analysis or observation. We don't fully understand how gravity works or what makes up the materials that compose matter. But while much of the natural world invokes mystery, there's a lot we do understand.

With the advent of advanced computer technology, our ability to monitor, predict, and further comprehend the world has increased drastically in the last several decades. For example, technologies such as the Internet of Things have bolstered human relationships with the natural world. This article will examine how although 'technology' and 'nature' have historically been in conflict, the IoT can offer humans new insights into how the world works and how we impact it on both a micro and macro level.

Technology and conservation

Throughout the 1800s and the early 1900s, "technology" was booming and observably changing the environment, and not in a good way. It was negatively impacting the natural world at a pace that was never seen before. Conservationist pioneers such as John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt, some of the most forward-thinking leaders of the time, paved the way towards preserving the natural world that humanity had begun to destroy.

At the crux of the conservationists' plight was blame on up-and-coming technology for its first-hand role in Earth's destruction. By the early 1960s, prolific scientist, ecologist, and writer Rachel Carson began the combative movement against Big Industry and the US Government for their roles in damaging local ecosystems and compromising human health. Carson's work targeted the chemical industry for its post-WWII use of chemical pesticides, which was thought to be a breakthrough technology for feeding the world's increasing population.

Historically, "conservationism" and "technology" weren't mutually beneficial -- each prevented the progress of the other.

The first conservation technologist

However, as the power and influence of "technology" continued to grow, it became increasingly obvious that humans could utilize technology to better understand how we interact with our ecosystem. Acclaimed French explorer Jacques Cousteau was one of the first environmentalists to integrate technology into conservation efforts via his co-creation of the Aqua Lung. With the technology that eventually led to modern-day scuba diving in hand, Cousteau was able to document the ever-changing world of our oceans like never before. He unearthed many findings of humans' direct impact on the ocean's ecosystem and endlessly employed technology in his explorations to much success. He even went on to stifle global government efforts in dumping nuclear waste into oceans based on the findings of various technologists around the globe.

Modern-day conservation technology

Nowadays, technology is redefining our understanding of the natural world in ways that would inspire the Muirs, Roosevelts, Carsons, and Cousteaus of the world. Consider the term "conservation technologist:" A testament to the success and positive impact technology has had on conservation efforts over the last half a century. While many general technologies positively impact the environment, the Internet of Things (IoT) is taking massive strides towards understanding nature at the micro and macro levels.

IoT-enabled animal tracking

Similar to how the Aqua-Lung helped Jacques Cousteau see and monitor the underwater world of the mid-1900s, IoT-enabled animal tracking technologies are helping scientists, conservationists, and even hobbyists monitor ecosystems around the globe. Companies such as View Into the Blue and Coral Gardeners hold true to Cousteau's principles in providing IoT-enabled underwater cameras that can monitor ocean life 24/7. Coral Gardeners' ReefOS program even connects their underwater cameras and sensors to cloud servers and employs AI models to document, monitor, and analyze the health of coral reefs. Organizations such as Smart Parks are implementing cutting-edge sensor devices worldwide to help track endangered wildlife in remote places. Using instruments such as drones and OpenCollar, Smart Parks can track animal locations, understand health and stress diagnostics, and provide valuable data to aid animal protection action and wildlife park management.

Weather monitoring using IoT

While the weather channel has been a part of everyday news broadcasting since the invention of the television, weather data collection has long been more of an art than a science. However, the IoT has vastly expanded human's capabilities of understanding weather. This may not be directly observable to the human eye or by using legacy-technology weather sensing tools. Additionally, connecting traditional and modern IoT weather sensor suites to the Cloud, and the subsequent aggregation of that data, can provide real-time weather analytics around the globe and provide minute-to-minute forecasts on regional, state, country, and global levels.

Agricultural understanding with IoT sensors

There's one industry that's consistently been at the forefront of utilizing technology to optimize output while simultaneously relying on nature to add value to its production: Agriculture. Since the Agricultural revolution, the field has often thrived and improved upon the advent of new technologies. The IoT is no exception. IBM predicts that the average farm can generate half a million data points per day via IoT sensors that collect information such as air/temperature humidity, soil moisture/pH, rainfall, and even the count of unwanted pests per day. Devices such as agricultural drones may collect data from a farm and understand how farmers can yield better results from their land to ensure it stays as healthy as possible for many years to come.

Learn more about IoT and Smart Agriculture.

Conclusion

Humans are just scratching the surface of implementing technology to understand nature better so we can protect ourselves, reduce negative impacts on the Earth, and protect wildlife more effectively. And while the IoT is already providing ample solutions to understand the planet better, we anticipate that it will continue to provide even more robust ideas, valuable insights, and a better analysis of how humans interact with nature in the years to come.