- Research and find an alternative/opposing point of view to Climate Change as proposed in the Introduction.
After conducting some research, I came across an article published by Daniel K. Benjamin on some of the benefits that are occurring due to global warming. He states that because of the average heat rising yearly, this ultimately allows farmers a longer crop season leading to more food and more profit. Benjamin says that this could increase the value of agricultural land by nearly 30%! He claims that over the rest of the century, the temperatures are statistically supposed to raise about 5 degrees Fahrenheit leading to precipitation averaging 8 inches more yearly. With this fact being true as well as using data from our history, agricultural productivity within the United States is projected to raise a grand total of approximately 4%.
I had found another article as well that underlines the benefits of climate change. Some of these examples given by publisher Ross Pomeroy state that cold weather deaths have decreased due to the temperatures collectively rising worldwide. Another being that because of the heat, there is more CO2 in the air leading to the average amount of time it takes for ecosystems to fully recover from droughts to be increased, meaning that it takes less time. With this all being taken into consideration, no one will ever know the exact effects that climate change will have on our ecosystems and society until they are right in front of us.
- What obligations do we have to future generations?
I believe that the obligations that we have for future generation is quite simple. In my opinion I do believe that global warming is indeed a problem because of the increasing CO2 levels as well as the chemicals and pesticides we use in our food products that result in many dangerous health conditions and concerning birth defects. We need to reduce the number of chemical products used on food that the human population consume. Taking steps in the right direction to reduce land spills and environmental pollution need to be at the forefront of our minds as well. Being humans, we should not want to allow our kids and our kids kids to live in an unhealthy ecosystem.
- Does nature have value in itself?
I absolutely believe that nature had value in itself. Nature has proven to be self-sustaining meaning that it has been here long before human civilization has, and I believe will be here long after we are gone. Nature allows for countless amounts of living organisms to survive on an everyday basis and is able to reproduce many valuable needs for society as well as organisms to be able to flourish in this world. It also produces us with renewable resources that again, help us live here on this planet.
- Who should pay the cost for protecting the environment — those responsible for causing the pollution or those who stand to benefit from protection and restoration. Explain your position.
In my opinion I believe that those who are causing the problem and are responsible for the pollution should ultimately be the ones who are required to pay. I believe that is how are court systems are run and therefore how society is run. If you are the culprit, you are the one that has to suffer the consequences, in this case, pay the fine for polluting the environment. After that is done, you should be held to fixing the issue to ensure that it is to never happen again. It is unethical for the cooperation causing the problem to not pay the repercussions of their misdoings. With this being said, those who benefit from protection and restoration should also be at fault as well. If both parties help fix the problem, our ecosystem becomes much cleaner and therefore much safer for all living on earth. Think of it as a criminal case, if you are the one who murdered another human being, but your friend was the one who helped get you the gun and set it up, the shooter is not the only one at fault. Both should be punished and held to higher standards. This goes for helping reduce the negative impacts of climate change as well.
Words Cited:
Shaw, William H. Business Ethics. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2017.
“The Benefits of Climate Change.” PERC. N.p., 12 Jan. 2018. Web. 04 July 2019.
“Do the Benefits of Climate Change Outweigh the Costs?” RealClearScience. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 July 2019.