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The Ethics of Global Climate Change, Essay Example

Pages: 8

Words: 2149

Essay

Both individually and as a species, human beings have confronted and will continue to confront innumerable ethical questions and dilemmas. From individual decisions about how we conduct ourselves in our interpersonal relationships to larger issues related to the conduct of cultures and entire societies, every significant consideration we face is weighted with ethical choices. In the last century the magnitude of our ethical considerations expanded exponentially, as wars enveloped the globe and developing technology raised the very real threat possibility that we could destroy ourselves with the push of a button. Of all the ethical situations humanity has faced, however, the greatest of them is also one that may be too late escape: the threat of global climate change. If we do manage to turn back the clock on climate change, generations to come will recognize that this generation faced history’s greatest challenge head-on. If we do not, there may well be no future generations to weigh out ethical failings.

In order to fully appreciate the magnitude of the problem regarding global climate change, it is necessary to examine both the science and the cultural and social underpinnings of the issue. Human history is marked by struggles to acquire and exploit resources; as long as the availability of resources seemed to be infinite- or at the very least, that their exploitation or depletion was a concern for some unimaginably distant future- there was little regard for the long-term implications of such resource wars (Curtis). Our current exponential growth of technology has afforded us the ability to now understand the ramifications of resource exploitation and depletion while also being at the root of the problem. The Earth’s climate has always been in state of flux; the issue at hand is the manner in which we exploit resources –most notably fossil fuels- in ways that are affecting the climate and posing grave threats to human survival.

The earth is currently much cooler than it was millions of years ago. In the age of dinosaurs, the Earth was, in places, dozens of degrees hotter than it is now. The cooling of the earth has not been steady and gradual, but has been punctuated by periods of higher and lower temperatures. We are currently in an inter-glacial period, set amidst a much larger Ice Age. During the cooling and warming cycles within this larger Ice Age, glacial ice at the earth’s polar regions can grow to the size of continents; in so doing, these massive glaciers draw up so much water that sea levels can drop by hundreds of feet (Pilkey et al).

The temperatures on Earth are generally mediated by a combination of different forces relating to atmosphere, solar activity, the position of the earth relative to the sun, and less-predictable factors such as the literal and figurative impact of asteroids. The term “greenhouse effect” refers to the manner in which atmospheric gasses, such as CO2, trap heat from the sun, warming the planet (Pilkey et al). This greenhouse effect is responsible for life as we know it, as it this phenomenon that keeps the sun’s heat from reflecting off the planet and back out into space. Solar activity and the position of the Earth can cause more significant spikes in the temperature of the Earth as variable levels of radiation are trapped by the atmosphere. It is the last factor –the changes caused by asteroids of other objects from space striking the surface of the planet- that may be the most significant in terms of explaining our current climatic conditions, and that foreshadows the potential for humanity’s own extinction event.

It is a generally-accepted theory that an asteroid struck the Earth millions of years ago, precipitating the extinction of the dinosaurs. The dust cloud kicked up by the impact was so great that as it distributed itself throughout the atmosphere it began to block out the sun. With less radiation from the sun reaching the Earth’s surface, the planet began to cool, killing off cold-blooded dinosaurs as well as vegetation that depended on sunlight for survival and growth. As the reptilian predators and prey disappeared, warm-blooded mammals, better able to withstand the cooler temperatures, evolved to fill the vacant niches in nature. While the dust from the asteroid impact had the opposite effect of greenhouse gasses, it demonstrated in no uncertain terms that cataclysmic shifts in climate can and do portend doom for much of life on Earth.

Contemporary scientists have found evidence around the world of the impact that climate change has had in the past. Artifacts and ruins found in coastal waters, for example, demonstrate that human civilization has been forced to retreat from rising sea levels in many parts of the world (Pilkey et al) . What makes the current conditions different is a) the complexity of civilization makes the idea of relocating significant numbers of people away from coastal areas a virtual impossibility, and b) the rate of change appears to be both more rapid than it has been in the past and quite possibly irreversible (Gardiner).  Given the available evidence, it is no longer a question of whether or not climate change is happening; the only questions are how quickly changes will occur, what their effects will be, and how human beings will collectively respond to the evidence of such change.

The scientific consensus regarding climate change is clear. While there are outliers both in the statistical data and the scientific community where such consensus is concerned, it is generally accepted that climate change is occurring and that human activity is responsible for it (Gardiner; Pilkey et al). Since the dawn of the Industrial Age humans have relied on the burning of fossil fuels to drive the engine of industry. The interconnectivity of “globalization” is built on transportation to move materials and goods from one region of the world to another, and to build the cars, trains, ships, and planes that comprise the global system of transportation (Curtis). While the polluting effects of burning fossil fuels have been of concern for decades, it is only in recent years that widespread attention has been paid to the notion that we are approaching a climatic tipping point from which we may not be able to retreat.

The numbers are clear, and they are grim. In his article “Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math,” author and researcher Bill McKibben examines the statistical evidence related to climate change, offering, among other facts:

  • The temperature in June in the U.S. met or exceeded 3,215 record-high temperatures
  • The month of May 2012 was the warmest on record in the Northern Hemisphere, and was the 327th consecutive month where the average global temperature exceeded the 20th century average global temperature
  • Spring of 2012 was the warmest in U.S. history since such measurements have been kept

These are just some of the data that has led to the consensus about climate change, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) established in 1988, has been gathering data and conducting research on the issue, amassing an overwhelming body of evidence supporting both climate change and the role of human activity in it. It is not just data about changes in temperature or atmospheric content that support the existence of climate change; the effects of such changes can be seen around the world. Polar ice caps and other glacial structures are shrinking, or in some cases, disappearing entirely (Gardiner). Ocean acidity, caused in part by trapped CO2, as well as rising sea temperatures, has increased an average of 30% in the last few decades (Gardiner). Atmospheric moisture is increasing as temperatures rise, setting the stage for cataclysmic weather-related events such as hurricanes and an overall rise in storm activity (Pilkey et al).

The overall effects of climate change are not linear, nor they easily predictable. While the average temperature is increasing –by some estimates it has increased by .08 degrees Celsius in the last century (Pilkey et al)- that does not mean that all areas are warming equally, or at all. Despite the rise in average temperatures, the scientific community has largely abandoned the phrase “global warming” in favor of global climate change in order to more accurately describe the effects of rising temperatures on various regions (Pilkey et al). There are some general conclusions about what we can expect to see in the future if the trend is not reversed; overall, it has been predicted, warm areas will get warmer, dry areas will get drier, and wet areas will get wetter. Part of the regional differences can be explained by the fact that greenhouse gasses are not the only cause of rising temperatures. Deforestation, large-scale agriculture, the diversion of water resources, and other human activities also play a part in effecting change in regional weather conditions (Pilkey et al).

There are some questions about how rapidly climate change will lead to disaster, or how much the global temperature will have to rise to lead to large-scale problems. By some estimates a rise of 2 degrees Celsius will be enough to trigger a cascade effect of disasters, resulting in floods, droughts, and storm activity on a massive scale; at a rise of .08 degrees we are almost halfway there (McKibben). The possible consequences of climate change are already being felt in the U.S.; counties throughout the nation have been declared disaster zones in recent months, as record temperatures have led to drought, crop failures, and wildfires. If that is a glimpse into the future, it may turn out that the conditions in the summer of 2012 were actually mild compared to what is in store.

Opposition to the Scientific Consensus on Climate Change

Despite what seems to be an overwhelming amount of evidence to support the existence of global climate change, and the role of human activity in such change, there are many who either deny its existence entirely or who assert that rising temperatures are a function of nature, and that human activity is too insignificant to cause such global changes (Gardiner). Even those who recognize the existence of climate change and the role of human activity do not always agree on how best to respond to it. While most who recognize climate change feel it is imperative to take steps to mitigate the production of greenhouse gasses, there is a minority who argue against the idea on economic grounds, asserting that the costs of reversing such trends would outweigh the costs of learning to adapt to them (Gardiner).

The arguments of both forms of climate change objectors are specious; each is based on presumptions that do not withstand scrutiny. Many of the so-called “deniers” claim that there is enough dissent and uncertainty within the scientific community to argue that human-driven climate change may in fact not be happening (Gardiner). This is simply a misrepresentation of the facts; just because scientists cannot predict with absolute certainty exactly how change will progress or how problems related to it will manifest themselves that should not be taken as evidence that it is not occurring. It is not just temperature changes that can be measured; chemistry and physics also support the assertion that current levels of greenhouse gasses are in likely the result of human activity (Pilkey et al).

The economic argument is equally specious, as it is predicated on the idea that we can predict how and when things will change as a result of rising temperatures (Gardiner). With that in mind, any predictions about the future economic costs of adapting to climate change are, at best, sheer speculation; such predictions are based on far less concrete evidence than are the predictions about the potential for disaster if we do not tackle the problem of climate change soon.

The question of how humanity will respond to the looming crisis will be a defining moment in our ethical, moral, and scientific evolution. It may be that very few of us alive today will live to see the results of our own inaction; it may also be that we are the last generation that still has an opportunity to confront the problem of climate change before the trends become irreversible. The evidence is clear: the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities are heating the planet at a rapid pace, and the consequences of that heating will unquestionably be dire. It is an ethical question on a global scale: will we collectively bear the burden of reversing climate change now so that future generations can avoid its consequences? How we answer that question will be the ultimate test of our humanity.

Works Cited

Curtis, Fred. Peak Globalization: Climate Change, Oil Depletion, and Global Trade. Ecological Economics. Vol. 69; N. 2. December 2009.

Gardiner, Stephen M. Ethics and Global Climate Change. Ethics. Vol. 114; N. 3. April 2004.

McKibben, Bill. Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math. Rolling Stone. 19 July 2012.

Pilkey, Orrin H. Pilkey, Keith C. Fraser, Mary Edna. Global Climate Change: A Primer. Durham University Press. Durham, NC. 2011.

Wojtonis, Adam. Universities “Debate” Climate Change. Institute of Public Affairs Review. 1 December 2009.

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