I have always been extremely fascinated in the natural world that we live in. It is such a beautiful, and somewhat fragile, continuous phenomenon that many humans pay no attention to on a daily basis. Our planet's environment is associated with the creation of the only known life in the universe, as well as the precarious task of sustaining that precious life through natural balances and corrections. Unfortunately that miracle is overlooked everyday. It has been dismissed because our Earth hasn't shown much evidence that anything negative is occurring until just in the last few decades. Our species has expanded quite possibly much farther and faster than we should have. We are causing our entire planet to change rapidly. Glacial ice is melting, there are hotter summers, colder winters, more severe weather and storms, rising sea levels, the extinction of many fragile species, and the list can go on forever. This problem was forged by the hands of humans. This is the issue of climate change.
Humans can choose how they interact with the world around them. Unfortunately many humans are still in denial that their actions and their predecessor's actions have altered the world they live in. Those who understand and accept the reality of climate change can choose to make their decisions with their environment in mind. The concept of Environmental Ethics only exists to those who base their knowledge on the idea that humans can and will affect the world around them, for better or worse. For my research project, I plan to look at Environmental Ethics as a whole, but then focus more on how this concept intertwines itself with climate change. I am curious to see what sort of different opinions, literature, and new facts I will encounter as I continue this project.
- Anthony Oatley :)
Going into climate change will most likely be very opinionated, one side or the other. I have heard people say that the climate is changing because of the planet's normal cycles (Ice Age for example). There is large amounts of propaganda from government and corporations because the American way of life is to produce as much as we can; admitting that we need to stop destroying our planet would threaten said way of life. On the other hand, there is substantial factual information proving climate change. I think this paper will be successful and more respectable if you find factual information as proof instead of stating opinions. The produced propaganda from government would be an interesting path to follow, because you can state examples and the impressions on people because of it. The organization ICE is dedicated to making climate change a questionable theory and not a fact. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI am excited you are doing this project since (as you know) I also love environmental science and have a passion for protecting the earth. I'm interested in how you are planning on approaching the ethical part of the paper. One thing I find fascinating that you might be interested in incorporating is how our society lends itself to consumerism and an extraordinary mass of waste. It seems many people either don't know how much their actions affect the environment or just don't care. It would be interesting if you looked at how our society affects our actions, especially if we know we are being wasteful but we do nothing to change that. You should share this in APES!! (and maybe get an enrichment??)
ReplyDeleteAnthony,
ReplyDeleteEnvironmental Ethics is such a current issue and I am positive that you will find a lot of information on certain groups that focus/support the idea of that we control the earth's climate (in regards to pollution, etc). Like Taylor said, it would be interesting to see how society affects our environmental choices - because of society, are we encouraged to use poisonous gases? Because of society, are we encouraged to use up the world's supply of coal and other resources when there are other sources of energy that is healthier for our planet? Make sure to not be bias in writing this. This goes without saying, but explaining both sides of the issue and giving factual information rather than beliefs or opinions, will be informative as well as thought-provoking.