A three-part examination of quantum applications for environmental security

Image via United Nations University

Gabriella Skoff

From drinkable water sources to arable land, healthy seas to clean air, reliable rainfall and predictable seasonal changes, humans depend entirely on the environment to provide the resources and conditions necessary for life. When access to vital resources is impeded or weather conditions become erratic, the equilibrium of life becomes unstable. It is little wonder then, that the threat posed to human populations by catastrophic environmental events, the degradation of the natural environment, the impact of climate change, and the growing force of overpopulation, has seen environmental security emerge as a serious priority for national and global governance.

In response to these threats, environmental technologies aim to create solutions to some of the major challenges presented within the scope of food and water security and sustainable energy. Although they appear far less frequently in headlines than some of their flashier applications, quantum technological advances in sensing, communication and computing present promising solutions for issues of environmental security. In light of the great uncertainty that surrounds the qualities of quantum technologies, an ambiguity which often invokes anxiety and fear, it is of great value to explore the positive impacts of quantum innovation that the future may hold.

The multifaceted threats to environmental security outlined above contribute to the disappearance of natural resources and to the advent of more frequent, extreme weather conditions. Indeed, climate change has been identified in the security space as a “threat multiplier” and a “catalyst for conflict”, with the power to destabilize social, economic and political conditions. Environmental insecurities may manifest in food and water scarcity, which can cause the inflation of prices for basic goods, provoke mass migrations, cause civil unrest and incite chaos. These conditions create the perfect breeding ground for conflict.

Likewise, global dependence on fossil fuels, apart from being urgently unsustainable, poses national security threats that have already resulted in war on numerous occasions. While many of the current effects of environmental insecurity are experienced in already volatile or susceptible nations, it is inevitable that these effects will spill over borders and into countries which boast more resources and reliable infrastructure to support climate change refugees and migrants fleeing conflict.

The role of technology in supporting initiatives across the entire spectrum of environmental security is more critical now than ever before. Quantum technologies promise to have an impact in several fundamental areas, including disaster preparedness, monitoring of deforestation and urbanization, green energy and in the creation of predictive climate change models. These applications extend right across the disciplines of quantum sensing, communications and computing.

The potential contributions of quantum technologies for increasing environmental security can be categorized into three main groupings: monitoring, energy and modelling. As with any technology, promise does not come without limitations and risks. While many of the potential quantum solutions for issues of environmental security are in their nascent stage of research and development, it is crucial that these limitations and risks too are understood.

In this three-part series, Project Q examines the bright hopes and the shadowy promises of the quantum applications that could help confront the threats posed by environmental insecurity. Join us as we ask the question: can quantum technologies help save the world?

Read Part One: Monitoring.

Read Part Two: Energy.

Read Part Three: Modelling.