Ethics & Climate Change: The Greenhouse EffectWilfrid Laurier Univ. Press, 1993 M08 19 - 199 pages Faced with the prospect of global warming, the anticipated rapid rise in global air temperatures due to the release of gases into the atmosphere, we have two choices of how to respond: adaptation or avoidance. With adaptation we keep burning fossil fuels, let global temperatures rise and make whatever changes this requires: move people from environmentally damaged areas, build sea walls, etc. With avoidance we stop warming from occurring, either by reducing our use of fossil fuels or by using technology such as carbon dioxide recovery after combustion to block the warming effect. Yet each strategy has its drawbacks—adaptation may not be able to occur fast enough to accommodate the expected temperature increases, but avoidance would be prohibitively expensive. An ethically acceptable goal must involve some mixture of adaptation and avoidance. Written by a team of scientists, social scientists, humanists, legal and environmental scholars and corporate researchers, this book offers an ethical analysis of possible responses to the problem. Their analyses of the scientific and technological data and the ethical principles involved in determining whose interests should be considered point to a combination of adaptation and avoidance of greenhouse gas production. They offer assessments of personal, corporate, government and international responsibility and a series of recommendations to aid decision-makers in determining solutions and apportioning responsibility. |
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... results of the research are being published in two forms . This volume contains the full academic result . A companion volume , also published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press , has been written by Lydia Dotto for public policy ...
... results — a finding confirmed in Nigel Bankes's study of international re- sponsibility in chapter 7 . As a provisional result of his study , Hurka concludes that even if only the least contentious consequentialist principles , related ...
... result in the disappearance of the ice pack from the Arctic Ocean during the summer months , leading to more precipitation , cloudiness , and significant shoreline erosion . The tundra area will shrink to about one half its current size ...
... result in avoidance behaviour and a reduced emission of greenhouse gases . As an alternative approach , Danielson proposes " individualization " in the face of complex social problems such as the greenhouse effect . As- suming that ...
... result if global warming results in significant climate change , and that therefore all action that can be taken to avoid global warming is ethically required . The chapter pro- poses that if , as a first step , energy is used more ...
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
23 | |
3 Religious Responsibility | 39 |
4 The ArcticA Canadian Case Study | 61 |
5 Personal Responsibility | 81 |
6 Corporate Responsibility | 99 |
7 International Responsibility | 115 |
Efficiency and Ethical Considerations | 133 |
9 Energy Efficiency at Home and Abroad | 149 |
Conclusion | 165 |
About the Authors | 171 |
Bibliography | 175 |
Index | 187 |
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Ethics and Climate Change: The Greenhouse Effect Harold Coward,Thomas Hurka No preview available - 1993 |
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The Life and Death of Planet Earth: How the New Science of Astrobiology ... Peter D. Ward,Donald Brownlee No preview available - 2003 |