Environmental Ethics

 Environmental Ethics-Issues and Solutions

key words- environment, ethics, solutions, earth day

In earlier times, as nature loving, man led a calm and peaceful life, without inflicting much harm to the nature and its surroundings in which he was living. But as population increased and he shifted from caves to man - made houses, he was forced to cut trees and clear the forest. Man started using diesel/petrol driven vehicles, industries came up and this in turn led to the pollution of earth, air and water. The big question that has to be answered is: Is this ethical?

But a very important point to be remembered at this juncture is that man has a moral responsibility to preserve the natural resource for the coming generations. He should understand that he has to coexist with plants, animals, birds and other living creatures.

The problems are manifold, quite serious and enormous – green house effect, destruction of ozone layer, accumulation of toxic and nuclear wastes. To this is added the other after effects like extinction of certain endangered species, loss of biodiversity, disappearance of forest area etc.

Relevant Propositions 

-Environmental destruction is mainly caused by the larger consumption of the rich.

-The GNP (Gross National Product) will be enhanced if we can stop and reverse the growing alienation between the people and the common property resources.

-There cannot be proper social and economic development without holistic     understanding between nature and society.

-Conserving and recreating nature must be of our highest priority.

Environmental Protection

Understanding the serious implications of depletion of the natural resources, earth day was started observing from April 22, 1970 onwards. The purpose of observing earth day was to make people, political leaders and government agencies aware the importance of caring and preserving the environment.

An ethic for nature   conservation   requires   environmental education and conservation awareness. The best way for this is to educate the young people and inculcate a sense of awareness in their minds regarding the importance of nature’s protection and harmful effects of degradation and pollution of the atmosphere, environment and surroundings.

Solutions

Man has to understand that he is not alone in this world and that he has to coexist with plants and animals. As such, he has to share the natural resources with other beings. Also he has to keep in mind that the resources are to be preserved for the coming generations. The difference between the rich and poor must be narrowed down to the maximum extent possible. As the world population increases, naturally the requirement for additional resources also increases; this in turn causing the depletion of the natural assets. Man should take particular care in not creating any situation for the extinction of species of any sort and also deforestation should be brought to the minimum supporting level. Conventional energy should be conserved to the maximum extent possible and use of non – conventional (alternative) energy should be encouraged.

link:https://www.worldenvironmentday.global/

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