Ethics is the study of what is right and wrong in human conduct. Environmental ethics studies the effects of human’s moral relationships on the environment and everything within it (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2008). The ethical principles that govern those relations determine human duties, obligations, and responsibilities with regard to the Earth’s natural environment and all of the animals and plants that inhabit it (Taylor, 1989). The purpose of this paper is to reveal environmental issues that are threatening the existence of life on Earth, and discus our social obligations to refrain from further damaging our environment, health and life for future generations. I will discus the need for appropriate actions and the ethical …show more content…
These perspectives are anthropocentric or human centered and view all non-human life as less important than humans themselves. Environmental ethics challenges these beliefs by questioning the assumed moral superiority of human beings to members of other species on earth (SEP, 2008). Preservation of the environment is essential to the preservation of the human race. Global Warming is the number one concern threatening the very existence of humans and everything within the environment today. The human race is to blame for the destruction of the natural world. The environmental issues that are threatening all human and non-human life today, started in the industrial revolution and the discovery of oil The need to improve the quality of life resulted in the construction of factories to mass produce products for consumers. These factories were powered by fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. The combustion of these fossil fuels emitted great quantities of pollutants that remain in the Earths atmosphere to this day and is the number one cause of global warming. However, in ethics one cannot evaluate just one thing. In ethics, as in nature, everything is connected to everything else (Partridge, 1998). Deforestation for agricultural purposes and the expansion of human habitats is happening around the world. This
In the introduction of Andrew Light and Holmes Rolston’s book , Environmental Ethics: An Anthology, the authors explain the basic concepts of ethics: more specifically environmental ethics, and how they apply to everyday life. The main concepts discussed include moral agents, moral patients, anthropocentrism, weak or broad anthropocentrism, indirectly morally considerable, and directly morally considerable. These concepts are the foundations to the environmental ethics that Light and Rolston wrote about; however, in regards to the short story written by J. Lanham titled: “Hope and Feathers: A crisis in birder identification,” the two terms most predominately relating to the text are moral patients and moral agents. Lanham, in this text, describes the epitome of what it means to be a good moral agent, as interpreted by Light and Rolston, where others failed.
While environmental questions are frequently channeled through practical and economic prisms, it is also appropriate to consider our econolgy as a function of morality. The ethical dilemmas which contribute to our policies and our behaviors regarding the use of fossil fuels and our attention to global climate change are frequently overshadowed by more immediate concerns of survival or mere comfort.
DDT is an insecticide that is known to be particularly effective in controlling the spread of malaria-bearing mosquitos. However, the use of DDT is also controversial because of its negative effects on the environment and the potential risks to human health, which were brought to attention in Rachel Carson’s hugely influential Silent Spring (1962). DDT has been banned in the United States for over thirty years, largely due to the response Silent Spring incited in the public (Bailey, 2004). Malaria remains an issue that is especially prevalent in developing countries; it is also these countries that often rely on foreign aid, and that aid occasionally comes with the condition that the use of DDT be banned.
Environmental scanning can be viewed as a way of acquiring information about outside events that can aid organizations in first identifying potential trends, then interpreting them
to be grown trees have to be cut down and I have explained the effects
In a nutshell, my personal environmental ethics are do not litter, planting trees, carpooling and joining Earth Hour. I believe that there are more ethics that we can make as the daily routine and each of it is beneficial to the Earth. The way we influence people can create big changes to the world. There are still big impacts regarding the human activities such as global warming, climate change, extinction of species, thinning of ozone layers, pollutions and more. All of these activities may lead to a phenomenon which scientists called the 6th mass extinction. This phenomenon is predicted to occur due to the rapid decrease in the biodiversity of the earth after the 5th mass extinction called Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction era. Hence, I believe
Deforestation is a problem that does not concern many people, but it is an issue that the people of Earth need to deal with. In the past 50 years deforestation has increased a significant amount, but people around the world have been removing the forests since the 1600s. The forests remaining are in danger as the human population goes up, the need for resources will also increase and this will make the deforestation of the last forests come quicker before humans realize it is too late. Unless the people address this threat to the world, it will be too late because this is something that can be fixed, the forests can be rebuilt but it has to start right now before there is nothing people can do. There are many causes for deforestation such as, clearing space for urbanization, making areas available for houses, or harvesting the lumber for goods and other consumer items and all of these have an effect on the world. The consequences of deforestation can affect all aspects of life on Earth, including the water cycle, the soil, and the life quality of species around the world.
Human-centered views consider humans to be the most important species and stewards(a person in charge of looking after something) of the earth.
Since the beginning of civilization humanity has adopted a subjugating stance toward nature. Ecological exploitation has become the de facto standard, contributing to the illusion of self-subsistence provided by modern society. This mindset is untenable given humanities reliance on the natural world, as best demonstrated by the critical importance of various parts of the environment to humanities continued existence. This includes the importance of biodiversity to medicinal advancement and climate adaptation, the role of insects in the renewal of the biosphere, and the importance of the environment for humanities psychological health.
To keep our environment healthy, all these element need to work together. There are no global laws protecting the environment and that is why everyone should practice good ethics when it comes to the environment. Environmental ethics is the part of environment philosophy which considers extending the traditional boundaries of ethics from only including hum and to non-humans. There are many ethical decisions that human beings make with respect to the environment. Humans are been considered of rational agents because they have clear preference, models uncertainty via expected values, and always to perform the action with the optimal expected outcome of itself. The action of the rational agent performs depends on the
The Earth is a dynamic, constantly changing environment in which the hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere all interact. When one changes slightly the change is then felt through out the spheres. Humans need to understand that the change they cause can have a potential for a disastrous affect on the environment. From injecting the atmosphere with greenhouse gas, or deforestation, all the unnatural things done to the environment will have an unnatural affect that will have to be dealt with. We as humans have a moral responsibility to reduce global warming gasses by changing our modes of transportation, to stop deforestation, and increase government funding into research to inhibit global warming for
Despite what mankind would like to believe, humans are animals. As multi-celled organisms, we consume other organic matter, change the land for own uses as a beaver would build a dam, and as other mammals, we are all fed breast milk from our mothers when we were young. Yet there is this disconnection and alienation of the human race towards other species. Moreover, through fear of taking action, the convenience provided to us if we simply choose to ignore the environment, and the alienation of other species that are endangered by our actions, the hostile and uncaring attitude of humans towards nature is the core reason for many of the problems in our environment today.
Deforestation is defined in the dictionary as the “removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is converted to a non forest use.” Common examples of deforestation include turning forestland to farms, ranches, or for urban use such as malls and housing. Forests still cover about thirty percent of the world’s land area, but according to National Geographic, “swaths the size of Panama are lost each and every year.” The world’s rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of deforestation. Money and the need to provide for one’s family are the main reasons why forests are cut down. The biggest driver of deforestation is agriculture. Farmers cut forests to provide more room for planting crops or grazing livestock. Additionally, logging operations cut many trees each year. However, not all deforestation is intentional, a combination of human and natural factors like wildfires and overgrazing cause deforestation.
Environmental problems are something which belongs to nature or known as “Mother Earth” [13]. Nature was created to help people survive from gathering foods until build a house. This phenomenon happens continuously without thinking how much damage that nature has because human’s fault. Nature gradually becomes worse and animal’s life in danger. People who are aware of the importance of nature react. Those people do several ways to save the environment. Although these efforts can return back the environment, these efforts only can be hold temporarily. This problem happens because those people who are aware of the environment only slightly; for remaining, there are people either do not know or do not care about the nature. People’s efforts
According to Mintzberg, the environmental school of thought is a strategy dealing with the forces outside the organization. Unlike the other schools in his book, Strategy Safari, the environment plays a central role in the strategy formation process alongside leadership and the organization where the organization becomes subordinate to the external environment. The environmental school assumptions are that during the formative period of the organization the company shapes itself in response to the environment, but after that period is increasingly unable to respond to the environment. Moreover, the organization long term survival depends on the early choices made during its formative period. Over time, Mintzberg states, leadership becomes