Hurricanes and typhoons, earthquakes, cyberattacks and solar flares: There are many disasters, both natural and human-made, that have the potential to disrupt our digital-centric societies. With an estimated 4.5 billion people using the internet, many communicate with cell phones and email, while financially transacting using credit cards, apps and ATMs. But each of these critical services is dependent on a reliable connection to the internet and a continuous source of electricity — both of which are typically unavailable after a disaster.
As the planet continues to warm due to human-caused climate change, the risk to infrastructure only continues to grow. Rising sea levels will lead to increased coastal flooding that will put more energy generation facilities at risk, and as the globe’s food and water supplies are disrupted by changing weather patterns, international conflict may bring consequences yet unforeseen.