Thinking Ethically about the Environment - Research Paper Example

Topic Global Warming The environment we live in is sustained on the natural law of nature and any manipulation by human beings can lead to the destruction of planet earth. The instability of environmental condition and its pollution has been a concern for people even in 20th century. The introduction of industrialization has been criticized by many anthropologists and scientist for degrading the natural environment of human being. They considered the overpopulation and surge of transportation and industries as a major threat to the sustenance of earth’s ecosystem. They argued that the people are ignorant about the slow killing process of industrialization. Now it is confirmed by scientific world that a phenomenon called “Global warming” is destroying earth slowly. Global warming is a process happened due to the manipulation of strong law of nature which had led to a huge problem which could be the destruction of life on earth sooner or later. (Thesis). Global warming is new to the population of 21st century .The environment may well be the gut issue that can unify a polarized nation in the 1970s. It may also divide people who are appalled by the mess from those who have adapted to it. Here we can see that, it is in the 21st century that people realized the great aftermath of environmental pollution. In 20th century, only intellectuals, scientist and anthropologist predicted environmental disaster as they have the mental potentiality to vision the future. But the men of this age did not experience any threat from nature due to the industrial revolution. Now “Global warming” is not an unfamiliar words to many but it can be briefly explained to get a better understanding of the process. The global warming is not an instant event but a reaction of nature to a century old industrialization and exploitation of nature. When the earth’s surface temperature rises due to the emission of green house gases the phenomenon is called global warming. Here, the main culprit is the carbon – dioxide emission.The use of fossil fuels, cattle breeding, industrial activities are the main activities which emits carbon – dioxide. This accompanied by pollution, deforestation and natural resource exploitation add to the negative effect. When one thinks of global warming the phrase which comes into mind is that “nature don’t take leaps”. It is a fact that “nature don’t take leaps” but act on a slow basis. Gradually, as people entered the 21st century, the global environmental threat like global warming and rising of sea level started to surface. This is exactly when the human population repented about the emergence of industrial revolution. In the 20th century, the world was just witnessing the industrialization and people saw an immediate upsurge in transportation and emergence of factories. In those times people were enraged by the increasing pollution but could not adapt to it like the current generation. In the late 20th century, the term “ecosystem” has been a vague concept, where different people had different definitions. Some regarded ecology as the relationship between different living organisms, which is a wrong concept as the icy regions which is a part of nature does not have living organisms. This shows the degree of ignorance among people regarding the nature and different aspects related to it. If we enquire about “ecosystem” to any educated person in 21st century he would definitely define it to us. The people of past, had little or no scientific facilities to unlock the effect of industrialization. Scientific world does mention about ecology and negative impact of industrialization on nature, but could not understand the practical impact of industrialization on nature. People in 20th century were appalled by the environmental mess but could not contain it any way. When we discuss of environmental pollution during 1970s, the effect of automobile pollution on nature was of less magnitude that that of 21st century. According to (Singh, 2009, pg.358) “Global affluence has vastly increased mobility. The number of motor vehicles in use worldwide has more than doubled since 1970, to the now imposing figure of about 600 million cars and trucks”. Here we can assert that, the people of 1970s were appalled by environmental pollution and people of 21st century are adapting to the adverse natural phenomenon. Ecology in scientific terms relate to the relationship between man and living organisms in a natural environment. Ecology could also be considered as the study of natural web of life. However, ecology of man itself cannot be examined as there is no technique or body of thought related to it. It is easier to see ecology as a subversive science as the web of life in which the human exists is too simple or meager. This ecological natural relationship between man and living organism is elastic but has insufficient depth. Ecology itself cannot be studied but only its elements like earth, sea and air could be examined. When we look at ecology from a biological perspective, its working is circular in nature where there is a mutual feedback on the part of organisms, place and man. The ecology is a subversive science because it is a complex phenomenon where every element involved is whole as well as depended on each other. In 1970s, environmental pollution was less obvious and tangible, and people were less concerned about it. At that time industrialization and transportation polluted the air and waters of the nation and people were less concerned about it as it was a new phenomenon .But as time passed by people started to experience various air borne diseases in the urban areas of the country. Also people started to witness natural disasters like flood in the coastal areas which was due to the increase in the sea level. In 20th century people were also concerned about the negative impact of energy use on the planet. But nowadays, people have experienced this negative impact of industrialization and are more conscious to fight against it. According to(Hamlin, 1993) “The 20th century can be characterized as a time of increasing environmental awareness”. The abundant nature which we live in sustains with a systematic order and standard. The existence of nature is always balanced and thrives on the obedient adherence of stringent laws of nature. Any deviation from this cyclic process leads to the catastrophe of planet and the living beings surviving in it. The ecology in which we live is in a state of equilibrium and has been continuing like this since ages unknown to mankind. As per (Jason, 2011) “In the nature there exists a universal law of life which is eternal in nature. The universe obeys certain rules—laws to which all things must adhere. These laws are precise, and many of them are mathematical in nature”. The law of nature has a hierarchical format and the secondary laws of nature are supported by primary laws of nature. Everything we see in this universe whether it is rock, plant , animal or man are bound by the strict laws of nature. It obeys laws of physics and chemistry simultaneously in order to maintain the equilibrium of nature. It is when man interferes in this ecological system that he has to pay for the consequences. For example, if man pollutes the air by smoke coming from automobiles he can be affected by asthma, lung problems and allergies. In the same way, when toxic residues of factories flow into river, then the ocean gets contaminated, which in turn kills fishes and one of man’s food source gets depleted. We can here conclude that nature has provided variety in its resources as a tactic to survival. We might have pondered many times, why nature is abundant with variety of living organisms and species of animals. But nature has reason for everything and the existence of different variety of animals is for the survival of each other. As we all know, everyone need food to survive and when we observe nature’s ecosystem we can find that every living being is depended on each other for food. For example, human beings depend on fishes for food and the whole minute living organisms and fishes are consumed by bigger fishes which is a food source for human beings. However, the industrialization is depleting the coral reefs of oceans due to the pollution spread by factories through contaminated rivers. This human catastrophe reflects on the neo Malthusian concept of Paul Ehrlich Paul Ehrlich explains that increase in population will affect adversely the agricultural production and the natural resource s of earth. Since neo – Malthusian theory correlates with the concept of Paul Ehrlich, he can be describes as a Neo – Malthusian. As per (Malhotra, 2012) “According to Neo-Malthusians, population problem as it presently exists in underdeveloped counties is an inevitable result of the reproductive behaviour of man”. Paul predicted that man’s interference and manipulation in nature’s ecosystem will ultimately lead to disease ,food shortage and natural disasters, which we see in today’s world. We can here understand that technology has brought men into to such a disaster. If technology got man into this mess, surely technology can get him out of it again. It is an evident fact that invention of technology has made men to commit disastrous sin on our natural environment. The industrialization, transportation, telecommunication all has a share in destroying the ecological balance of nature. However, technology also has the power to reverse this negative natural phenomenon. For example, if man invents renewable energy instead of energy attained from burning of fossils then the greenhouse gas effect can be avoided completely. In the book (Quaschning ,2005, pg.8)states that “By 2050 the energy demand will intensify the problem of today’s already high energy consumption and its consequences, such as greenhouse effect and the rapid depletion of fossil energy resources”. However, there is also false assumption among people that nature exists for man to conquer it. Today, people have false assumption that nature exists for them to conquer or exploit it to maximum level. For example, we can see that people hunt for fish in the sea on a large scale. This is depleting the fish source, but people assume that as fish breed heavily it is an indication for men to hunt them. In the same manner, animals like pig are bred and killed for food. As pigs breed fast, people think that this animal’s existence is for providing meat for human beings. This kind of assumptions is false and dangerous as using these animals for food in a large quantity can have negative implication on nature. If man hunts more fish, the food source of bigger fish is reduced and this damages the ecosystem of ocean. Moreover if pigs are used more for food then their function of consuming garbage reduces. Conclusion Global warming is one issue from which man can never escape with ease. Sine man is the prime reason behind environmental pollution; he has all the obligation and responsibility to combat this adverse natural phenomenon. Man being an ethical and morally responsible creature has to think about environment as which constitutes a good living atmosphere. Human should consider the right and wrong regarding environmental exploitation and manipulation. In the article (Warner, 2009) “Environmental ethics apply ethical thinking to the natural world and the relationship between humans and the earth”. Our current human values like selfishness, disloyalty, disrespect should be replaced with diligence, patience, loyalty and respect. The great scientist Barry Commoner has said that “We have the time – perhaps a generation – in which to save the environment from the final effects of the violence we have done to it.” From this we can understand that, currently we have more than half a century which is duration of one generation to reverse the disastrous state of nature. If we start acting on clearing environmental pollution now, then we can save the whole living beings from falling into the deadly pangs of global warming. Man is an intelligent creature and he also has the support of scientific and technological world to fight against global warming before it destroys the whole world. References Hamlin, R. (1993) “Phytoremedian literature review”. umass.edu. Retrieved December 6, 2012, fromhttp://www.umass.edu/umext/soilsandplant/PDF%20Files/Barker 20PDF/Phytoremedia tion%20PDF/PhytoLitReview.pdf Lisle, Jason. "God & Natural Law." answersingenesis.org. Answers in Genesis, 2011. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. . Malhotra, V. (2012). “The Neo - Mathusian Theory of Population Studies”. In publishyourarti cles.net. Retrieved December 6, 2012, from http://www.publishyou rarticles.net/eng/articles/the-neo-malthusian-theory-of-population-studies.html Quaschning, V. (2005). Understanding Renewable Energy Systems[Multimédia Multisupport] (p. 8). Bath: Bath Press. Singh, G. (2009). Understanding Carbon Credits. New Delhi: Aditya Books Pvt. Ltd. Warner, K. D. (2009, May). “Thinking Ethically About the Environment”. scu.edu. Retrieved December 6, 2012, from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/f ocusareas/environmental_eth ics/short-course.html Read More