Question

Please provide response to four (4) of the seven (7) questions listed below.

1. Briefly, what is the history of the free-use attitude toward the natural world?

2. How can technology make environmental protection a wasted effort?

3. How can the idea of geological time become an argument against taking expensive steps to protect the natural world?

4. What are some reasons why our ethical obligations to ourselves may lead us to protect the natural world?

5. What is the difference between protecting the natural world because we humans are valuable, and because animals are valuable?

6. What kind of experiences with nature may result in the sensation that, as an interdependent whole, the natural world holds value?

7. If the decision is made to protect nature, who are some individuals or groups that might be asked to pay the cost?

Answer 1

1. Human beings have always struggled to maintain a balance between our natural environment and end up misusing or damaging natural resources which play a vital role in keeping earth’s environment in check. Initially, human beings had adapted to the natural environment where they were nomadic in nature. They shifted from one place to another in search of food and shelters, used most of the resources of that particular place and then moved to the next location. Sometimes it was an individual or a tribe, however, they had a measurable impact on the environment since the human population was less to cause any significant damage.

Population Growth:- The need for more was highly influenced by the growth of population and the lack of awareness of its effects on the environment. Population growth was directly proportional to the need for more resources for utility and development purposes. The areas which are overpopulated have the most adverse effect on the surrounding environment where natural resources had to be destroyed for colonization.

Wars:- Human beings have been at war for centuries. The most devastating effect of war is not just the damage caused due to the destruction of property and resources but the overutilization of resources to advance and make more weapons of destruction. The rate of weapons production increases massively during wars where every side wants to gain an advantage over the other through weapons development.

2. Humans are heavily dependent on technology to run their daily lives. It has made our lives a lot easier compared to older times and it creates a sense of paranoia when it is taken away from us. There is a desire in human beings to develop an advanced version of the technology that we possess now where the research and development of such projects require laboratory trails and more expenditure on natural resources. It took us time to figure out cheap renewable resources which may not affect the environment adversely like solar power and water. Coal and petroleum being the major utility resources which are being used daily by humans around the world is a major cause of climate change is not good for our future generation.

4. We are dependent on the environment in which we live because it is full of resources which we use to survive and live our lives. It is important to give back to the environment and maintain balance in nature so that we can avoid future challenges caused by our greed of exploitation of the environment.

Future Generation:- The resources available to the future generation is dependent on how we treat the environment at the present. Extinction of a species, depletion of resources, climate change due to carbon emissions will cause major issues for our future generation. Every individual must follow ethics and morals when dealing with the environment.

Healthy Lifestyle:- There are countries who are fighting polluted air causing lung diseases to its people and they are countries who have adapted to respect the environment around them with environmental laws and govern them to lead a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. The damage we cause to the environment affects us now and in the future, so it’s our ethical obligation to take care of the environment not just for us but for the future generation as well.

7.If there is a decision to safeguard the environment, these are the group of people who will be asked to pay the cost:-

Fossil Fuel Traders:- Companies and countries engaged in the supply of fossil fuels for consumption purposes need to find an alternative since consumption of fossil fuel is a major cause of pollution around the world. They will need to invest in the development of renewable sources of energy to replace fossil fuels.

Local Govt:- There is responsibility in the hands of local governments around the world to spend the taxes money in creating eco-friendly ways of transportations and ways of utilizing other resources. The environmental programs of recycling and reuse are not easy to execute in every society and it takes time to spread awareness of the same

Food Industry:- We use natural resources like water and land to grow, process or manufacture our food. Synthetic and artificial food production is not an option and hence they might need to figure eco-friendly processes to grow food which does not affect the land in which they are grown and the same land can be used again next year.