Environmental Ethics _ 2022 .ppt

Environmental Ethics
By
Dr.P.Sureshkumar

ENVIRONMENT
The living and nonliving things that surround a
living thing make up its environment.
• 'Environment' defined under the
Environmental Protection Act, 1986,
'Environment' includes Water, air and land and
the inter-relationship which exists among and
between, water, air, land, and human beings,
other living creatures, plants, microorganisms
and property.

Ecosystem
• “Any unit that includes all of the organisms in a given area interacting
with the physical environment so that a flow of energy leads to
exchange of materials between living and non-living parts of the
system” (Odum, 1969).
• The ecosystem is the basic functional unit of organism and their
environment interacting with each other.
• The function of ecosystem is related to the energy flow,
decomposition, nutrient cycling and major biomes.

Ecosystem structure and functions
https://theintactone.com/2019/10/29/es-u2-topic-1-ecosystems-concept-structure-and-function/

Survival of the fittest
• Survival of the fittest, term made famous in the fifth edition (published
in 1869) of On the Origin of Species by British naturalist Charles Darwin,
which suggested that organisms best adjusted to their environment are the
most successful in surviving and reproducing.

Environmental Ethics _ 2022 .ppt

Environmental issues at global level
• Depletion of natural resources
• Water pollution
• Air pollution
• Ground water pollution
• Toxic chemicals & soil pollution
• Ozone layer depletion
• Global warming
• Sea level rise
• Loss of bio-diversity
• Extinction of wildlife and loss of natural habitat
• Nuclear wastes and radiation issues

“Don’t drink water in under
developed countries,
Don’t breathe air in the
developed countries”

Climate Change
• Climate change threatens people with food and water
scarcity, increased flooding, extreme heat, more disease,
and economic loss. Human migration and conflict can be a
result. The World Health Organization (WHO) calls climate
change the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century.

Graphs showing correlation of measured global average temperature, from five different scientific organizations. Graphs of datasets from five
scientific organizations were vertically adjusted, if needed, to a common reference/base period 1951-1980 ( Craig, 2009)

Sea level Changes
(Frederikse et al. 2020)

Sea Level Rise
“The IPCC says we can expect the oceans to rise between 11 and 38 inches (28 to 98
centimeters) by 2100, enough to swamp many of the cities along the U.S. East Coast. More
dire estimates, including a complete meltdown of the Greenland ice sheet, place sea level
rise to 23 ft (7 m), enough to submerge London.”
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/sea-level-rise/

Biodiversity Loss
• At threat of extinction are
• 1 out of 8 birds
• 1 out of 4 mammals
• 1 out of 4 conifers
• 1 out of 3 amphibians
• 6 out of 7 marine turtles
• 75% of genetic diversity of agricultural crops has been lost
• 75% of the world’s fisheries are fully or over exploited
• Up to 70% of the world’s known species risk extinction if the global
temperatures rise by more than 3.5°C
• 1/3rd of reef-building corals around the world are threatened with extinction

State of Biodiversity Loss
IUCN, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2010) Global Biodiversity Outlook 3, May 2010

Loss of Biodiversity
(Luypaert et al., 2019)

22
ADD A FOOTER
• Environmental Ethics
............ What is the solution for these
issues?

What is Ethics ?
23
The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy states that the word
"ethics" is "commonly used interchangeably with 'morality' ... and
sometimes it is used more narrowly to mean the moral principles of
a particular tradition, group or individual."

What is Environmental Ethics ?
24
Environmental ethics is an established field of practical philosophy "which reconstructs the
essential types of argumentation that can be made for protecting natural entities and the
sustainable use of natural resources."

Does Environmental
Ethics save the earth?
Yes
When we try to use culturally extended
rights and psychologically based utilities to
protect the flora or even the insentient fauna,
to protect endangered species or ecosystems,
we can only stammer. Indeed, we get lost
trying to protect bighorns, because, in the wild,
cougars are not respecting the rights or
utilities of the sheep they slay, and, in culture,
humans slay sheep and eat them regularly,
while humans have every right not to be eaten
by either humans or cougars. There are no
rights in the wild, and nature is indifferent to
the welfare of particular animals.(Rolston,
1991)
25

Environmental ethics in daily
decisions.
26
There are many ethical decisions that human beings make with respect to the environment

Environmental
ethics in daily
decisions
• Should humans continue to clear forests for
the sake of human consumption?
• Why should humans continue to propagate
its species, and life itself?
• Should humans continue to make gasoline-
powered vehicles?
• What environmental obligations do humans
need to keep for future generations?
• Is it right for humans to knowingly cause the
extinction of a species for the convenience of
humanity?
• How should humans best use and conserve
the space environment to secure and expand
life?
• What role can Planetary Boundaries play in
reshaping the human-earth relationship?
27

Marshall's
categories
Three general ethical approaches have emerged over the last 40 years:
Libertarian Extension,
the Ecologic Extension,
and Conservation Ethics. (Marshall, Alan)
28

Libertarian
extension
Marshall's libertarian extension echoes a
civil liberty approach (i.e. a commitment to
extending equal rights to all members of a
community). In environmentalism, the
community is generally thought to consist of
non-humans as well as humans.
29

Ecologic
extension
Alan Marshall's category of ecologic
extension places emphasis not on human
rights but on the recognition of the
fundamental interdependence of all biological
(and some abiological) entities and their
essential diversity.
30

Conservation ethics
Marshall's category of 'conservation ethics'
is an extension of use-value into the non-
human biological world. It focuses only on the
worth of the environment in terms of its utility
or usefulness to humans.
31

Humanist Theories
Peter Singer advocated the preservation of
"world heritage sites", unspoilt parts of the
world that acquire a "scarcity value" as they
diminish over time. Their preservation is a
bequest for future generations as they have
been inherited from human's ancestors and
should be passed down to future generations
so they can have the opportunity to decide
whether to enjoy unspoilt countryside or an
entirely urban landscape. A good example of a
world heritage site would be the tropical
rainforest, a very specialist ecosystem that
has taken centuries to evolve. Clearing the
rainforest for farmland often fails due to soil
conditions, and once disturbed, can take
thousands of years to regenerate
33

Applied theology
ADD A FOOTER 34

Applied Theology
The Christian world view sees the universe
as created by God, and humankind
accountable to God for the use of the
resources entrusted to humankind. Ultimate
values are seen in the light of being valuable
to God. This applies both in breadth of scope
– caring for people and environmental issues,
e.g. environmental health and dynamic
motivation, the love of god controlling and
dealing with the underlying spiritual disease of
sin, which shows itself in selfishness and
thoughtlessness. In many countries this
relationship of accountability is symbolised at
harvest thanksgiving.
35

Applied Theology
Abrahamic religious scholars have used
theology to motivate the public. John L.
O'Sullivan, who coined the term manifest
destiny, and other influential people like him
used Abrahamic ideologies to encourage
action. These religious scholars, columnists
and politicians historically have used these
ideas and continue to do so to justify the
consumptive tendencies of a young America
around the time of the Industrial Revolution. In
order to solidify the understanding that God
had intended for humankind to use earths
natural resources, environmental writers and
religious scholars alike proclaimed that
humans are separate from nature, on a higher
order.
36

Applied Theology
Since the turn of the 20th century, the
application of theology in environmentalism
diverged into two schools of thought. The first
system of understanding holds religion as the
basis of environmental stewardship. The
second sees the use of theology as a means
to rationalize the unmanaged consumptions of
natural resources. Lynn White and Calvin
DeWitt represent each side of this dichotomy
37

Applied Theology
Authors like Terry Tempest Williams as well
as John Muir build on the idea that "...God can
be found wherever you are, especially outside.
Family worship was not just relegated to
Sunday in a chapel." References like these
assist the general public to make a connection
between paintings done at the Hudson River
School, Ansel Adams' photographs, along with
other types of media, and their religion or
spirituality. Placing intrinsic value upon nature
through theology is a fundamental idea of
deep ecology.
38

Normative ethical theories
Normative ethics is a field in Moral Philosophy that investigates how one ought to act. What is
morally right and wrong, and how moral standards are determined. Superficially, this approach
may seem intrinsically anthropocentric. However, theoretical frameworks from traditional
normative ethical theories are abundant within contemporary environmental ethics
39

Consequentialism
Consequentialist theories focus on the
consequences of actions, this emphasises not
what is 'right', but rather what is of 'value' and
'good'. Act Utilitarianism, for example,
expands this formulation to emphasise that
what makes an action right is whether it
maximises well-being and reduces pain. Thus,
actions that result in greater well-being are
considered obligatory and permissible. It has
been noted that this is an 'instrumentalist'
position towards the environment, and as such
not fully adequate to the delicate demands of
ecological diversity.
40

Deontology
Deontological theories state that an action should
be based on duties or obligations to what is right,
instead of what is good. In strong contrast to
consequentialism, this view argues for principles of
duty based not on a function of value, but on
reasons that stand beyond the consequences of an
action. Something of intrinsic value, then, has to be
protected not because its goodness would
maximise a wider good, but because it is valuable
in itself; not as a means towards something, but as
an end in itself. Thus, if the natural environment is
categorised as intrinsically valuable, any
destruction or damage to such would be considered
wrong as a whole rather than merely due to a
calculated loss of net value. It can be said that this
approach is more holistic in principle than one of
consequentialist nature, as it fits more adequately
with the delicate balance of large ecosystems.
41

Virtue ethics
Virtue ethics states that some behaviours should
be cultivated, and others avoided. This framework
avoids problems of defining what is of intrinsic
value, by instead arguing that what is important is
to act in accordance with the correct balance of
virtue. The Golden mean formulation, for example,
states that to be 'generous' (virtue), one should
neither be miserly (deficiency) or extravagant
(excess). Unlike deontology and consequentialism,
theories of virtue focus their formulations on how
the individual has to act to live a flourishing life.
This presents a 'subjective flexibility' which seems
like an adequate position to hold considering the
fluctuating demands of sustainability. However, as a
consequence, it can also be said that this is an
inherently anthropocentric standpoint.
42

Anthropocentrism
Anthropocentrism is the position that humans are the most important or critical element in any
given situation; that the human race must always be its own primary concern.
43

Anthropocentrism
• Baruch Spinoza reasoned that if humans were to
look at things objectively, they would discover that
everything in the universe has a unique value.
Likewise, it is possible that a human-centred or
anthropocentric/ androcentric ethic is not an
accurate depiction of reality, and there is a bigger
picture that humans may or may not be able to
understand from a human perspective.
• Peter Vardy distinguished between two types of
anthropocentrism. A strong anthropocentric ethic
argues that humans are at the center of reality and
it is right for them to be so. Weak anthropocentrism,
however, argues that reality can only be interpreted
from a human point of view, thus humans have to
be at the centre of reality as they see it.
44

Anthropocentrism
• Another point of view has been developed by
Bryan Norton, who has become one of the
essential actors of environmental ethics by
launching environmental pragmatism, now one of
its leading trends. Environmental pragmatism
refuses to take a stance in disputes between
defenders of anthropocentrist and non-
anthropocentrist ethics.
• Instead, Norton distinguishes between strong
anthropocentrism and weak-or-extended-
anthropocentrism and argues that the former must
underestimate the diversity of instrumental values
humans may derive from the natural world.
45

Anthropocentrism
A recent view relates anthropocentrism to the
future of life. Biotic ethics are based on the human
identity as part of gene/protein organic life whose
effective purpose is self-propagation. This implies a
human purpose to secure and propagate life.
Humans are central because only they can secure
life beyond the duration of the Sun, possibly for
trillions of eons.[35] Biotic ethics values life itself, as
embodied in biological structures and processes.
Humans are special because they can secure the
future of life on cosmological scales. In particular,
humans can continue sentient life that enjoys its
existence, adding further motivation to propagate
life. Humans can secure the future of life, and this
future can give human existence a cosmic purpose.
46

Relationship with animal ethics
Truth Centrism or Right Oriented Environmental Ethics
47

Relationship with
animal ethics
The theory of “truth centrism in environmental
ethics” is a new theory that discusses the human
needs and protection of life and nature. This theory
holds that all beings have a right in the system of
existence. So, the attitude and consequences of
human morality and behavior with their
environment and other beings must be oriented
according to the type and proportion of the right
position of each of them and the position of human
himself. Numerous theories have been proposed in
the field of environmental ethics; however, each
has its shortcomings and has provoked much
criticism about itself.
48

Relationship with
animal ethics
Along these theories, a new theory has been
described in 2020 by Jalal Valiallahi Director of
Environmental Education and Sustainable
Development (located In Iran), from the theorist's
point of view, this theory is a holistic view that
encompasses the scope of moral consideration of
all universes and creations, including living and
non-living. Also, its holistic look is realistic and
practical. This theory was proposed in 2014 and in
2020 it received a lot of attention. at the following
link, this theory is explained and developed so that
it can be exposed to the judgment and critical view
of experts in order to become more comprehensive.
49

Deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal
of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then
converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can
involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches,
or urban use. The most concentrated deforestation
occurs in tropical rainforests.
51
Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil's Maranhão state, 2016

Deforestation
• About 31% of Earth's land surface is covered by
forests at present.
• Between 15 million to 18 million hectares of forest, an
area the size of Bangladesh, are destroyed every year.
• On average 2,400 trees are cut down each minute.
• FAO estimate that the global forest carbon stock has
decreased 0.9%, and tree cover 4.2% between 1990 and
2020.
52
Forest Landscape Integrity Index showing anthropogenic modification of remaining
forest

Desertification
Desertification is a type of land degradation in dry
lands in which biological productivity is lost due to
natural processes or induced by human activities
whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is
the spread of arid areas caused by a variety of
factors,
53
View of Sydney Harbour Bridge covered in dust

Desertification
Drylands occupy approximately 40–41% of Earth's
land area and are home to more than 2 billion
people. It has been estimated that some 10–20% of
drylands are already degraded, the total area
affected by desertification being between 6 and 12
million square kilometres, that about 1–6% of the
inhabitants of drylands live in desertified areas, and
that a billion people are under threat from further
desertification.
54
Lake Chad in a 2001 satellite image, with the actual lake in blue. The lake lost more
than 90% of its surface area between 1987 and 2005

Holocene extinction
The Holocene extinction, otherwise referred to as
the sixth mass extinction or Anthropocene
extinction, is an ongoing extinction event of
species during the present Holocene epoch (with
the more recent time sometimes called
Anthropocene) as a result of human activity.
55
The dodo became extinct during the mid-to-late 17th century due to habitat destruction,
hunting, and predation by introduced mammals.

Holocene extinction
According to 2011 IUCN estimates: lions are down to
25,000, from 450,000; leopards are down to 50,000, from
750,000; cheetahs are down to 12,000, from 45,000;
tigers are down to 3,000 in the wild, from 50,000. The
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
characterises 'recent' extinction as those that have
occurred past the cut-off point of 1500,[164] and at least
875 plant and animal species have gone extinct since that
time and 2009.
56
Top: Arid ice age climate
Middle: Atlantic Period, warm and wet
Bottom: Potential vegetation in climate now if not for human effects like agriculture.

Forced
displacement
Forced displacement (also forced migration) is
an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or
people away from their home or home region. The
UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows:
displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict,
generalized violence or human rights violations".
57
Syrian and Iraqi migrants arriving in Lesbos, Greece in 2015 seeking
refuge

Forced
displacement
As a result of 2004 Tsunami, over 1.7 million
people were displaced, mostly from Indonesia, Sri
Lanka, and India. A nuclear meltdown on April 26,
1986 near Pripyat, Ukraine contaminated the city
and surrounding areas with harmful levels of
radiation, forcing the displacement of over 100,000
people.
58
Jewish people, forcibly displaced by the Nazi regime during Germany's WWII
occupation of Poland, loaded onto trains for transport to concentration camps

Erosion
In earth science, erosion is the action of surface
processes (such as water flow or wind) that
removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one
location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it
to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is
distinct from weathering which involves no
movement.
59
An actively eroding rill on an intensively-farmed field in eastern Germany

Erosion
In Taiwan, increases in sediment load in the
northern, central, and southern regions of the island
can be tracked with the timeline of development for
each region throughout the 20th century. The
intentional removal of soil and rock by humans is a
form of erosion that has been named lisasion.
60
Human Impact on Coastal Erosion in Taiwan

Oil depletion
Oil depletion is the decline in oil production of a
well, oil field, or geographic area
61
Abandoned gas well pump

Oil depletion
The United States Energy Information
Administration predicted in 2006 that world
consumption of oil will increase to 98.3 million
barrels per day (15,630,000 m3/d) (mbd) in 2015
and 118 million barrels per day in 2030. With 2009
world oil consumption at 84.4 mbd, reaching the
projected 2015 level of consumption would
represent an average annual increase between
2009 and 2015 of 2.7% per year.
62
Depletion Curves for Crude-Oil Extraction

Ozone depletion
Ozone depletion consists of two related events
observed since the late 1970s: a steady lowering of
about four percent in the total amount of ozone in
Earth's atmosphere, and a much larger springtime
decrease in stratospheric ozone (the ozone layer)
around Earth's polar regions.
63
The ozone cycle

Ozone depletion
The Antarctic ozone hole is an area of the
Antarctic stratosphere in which the recent ozone
levels have dropped to as low as 33 percent of their
pre-1975 values.
64
Ozone hole in North America during 1984 (abnormally warm, reducing ozone depletion)
and 1997 (abnormally cold, resulting in increased seasonal depletion). Source: NASA

Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas (GHG or GhG) is a gas that
absorbs and emits radiant energy within the
thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse
effect.
65

Extreme energy
Klare originated the concept of extreme energy.
Extreme energy is a range of techniques for the
production of energy from unconventional
resources which share characteristics of being
environmentally damaging or risky
66

Water Gasification
Gasification under supercritical conditions.
Supercritical water (SCW) gasification is the
process in which water having a pressure of
over 22 MPa and a temperature over 374 °C (i.e.,
supercritical conditions) is used as the
gasifying agent.
67

Natural hazard
A natural hazard[ is a natural phenomenon that
might have a negative effect on humans and other
animals, or the environment. Natural hazard events
can be classified into two broad categories:
geophysical and biological.
68

Natural disaster
A natural disaster is a major adverse event
resulting from natural processes of the Earth;
examples include firestorms, dust storms, floods,
hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions,
earthquakes, tsunamis, storms, and other geologic
processes. A natural disaster can cause loss of life
or damage property,
69

Depletion of Minerals
In the geological and economic aspect, the
depletion of minerals is a decrease in initial
reserves and a discrepancy between the norms
for the extraction of natural resources and the
needs of mankind (country, region, etc.)
70

Reduce, Reuse, and
Recycle (3R).
Cut down on what you throw away. Follow the
three "R's" to conserve natural resources and
landfill space.
72

Educate.
When you further your own education, you can
help others understand the importance and value of
our natural resources.
73

Conserve water.
The less water you use, the less runoff and
wastewater that eventually end up in the ocean.
74

Shop wisely.
Buy less plastic and bring a reusable shopping
bag.
75

Use long-lasting light
bulbs.
Energy efficient light bulbs reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. Also flip the light switch off when you
leave the room!
76

Plant a tree.
Trees provide food and oxygen. They help save
energy, clean the air, and help combat climate
change.
77

Don't send chemicals
into our waterways.
Choose non-toxic chemicals in the home and
office.
78

Use Public Transport.
Use Public transport more wherever possible.
79

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s
needs, but not every man’s greed.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

Our Earth
• The only planet known to
support life is our Earth.
• So, Take pledge on this
Environmental day to follow
the environmental ethics to
save this mother earth.

• “We do not inherit
the earth from our
parents, we borrow
it from our
children”
-Chief Seattle

Environmental Ethics _ 2022 .ppt

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