Computer sciece and the environment

We worry lots about the environment and whether the things we do are making things worse. To help, we recycle our waste, try and reduce the amount of electricity we use and reduce our carbon emissions. After all no one wants the planet to end up as a barren wasteland like in 'The Book of Eli'.

But what about our love of gadgets. Is technology making things better or worse, and how can computer science help? Can we measure how much we affect the environment? What methods can we use to observe how our environment is gradually changing? Can we find new ways to help preserve the environment? This is where the computer science and the resulting technology come in.