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Environmental ethics:
Environmental Ethics is the part
of environmentalphilosophy which considers
extending the traditional boundaries
of ethics from solely including humans to
including the non-human world.There are
manyethical decisions that human beings make
with respect to the environment.
Environmental ethics is a branch of ethics that
studies the relation of human beings and the
environment and how ethics play a role in this.
Environmental ethics believe that humans are a
part of society as well as other living creatures, which includes plants and animals.
These items are a very important part of the world and are considered to be a functional
part of human life. Thus, it is essential that every human being respect and honor this
and use morals and ethics when dealing with these creatures.
The practical purpose of environmental ethics, they maintain, is to provide moral
grounds for social policies aimed at protecting the earth's environment and
remedying environmental degradation.
Environmental Ethics And Human Values:
Environmental ethics helps
define man's moral and ethical obligations toward the environment. But human
values become a factor when looking at environmental ethics. Human values are the
things that are important to individuals that they then use to evaluate actions or events.
In other words, humans assign value to certain things and then use this assigned value
to make decisions about whether something is right or wrong. Human values are unique
to each individual because not everyone places the same importance on each element
of life. For example, a person living in poverty in an undeveloped country may find it
morally acceptable to cut down the forest to make room for a farm where he can grow
food for his family. However, a person in a developed country may find this action
morally unacceptable because the destruction of forests increases carbon dioxide
emissions into the atmosphere, which can negatively impact the environment.
Environmental ethics, along with human values, make for challenging philosophical
debates about man's interaction with the environment. Water and air pollution, the
depletion of natural resources, loss of biodiversity, destruction of ecosystems, and
global climate change are all part of the environmental ethics debate.
What Causes Environmental Pollution?

The acts of humans lead to environmental pollution. The stronger demand for resources
is also a factor that contributes to the problem as we all need food and shelter. When
these things are so desired and need the natural balance of the environment is
disturbed. Engineering developments are resulting in resource depletion and
environmental destruction. There are several environmental issues that have created
havoc on our environment and human life. If ignored today, these ill effects are sure to
curb human existence in the near future.The major environmental issues include
Pollution, Overpopulation, Industrial and Household Waste, Acid Rain, Climate
change, Ozone Layer Depletion, Urban Sprawl, Genetic Engineering, Deforestation and
Global Warming. These environmental issues have taken toll on our environment and
we’ve already started seeing some disastrous effects in the form of effect of health on
humans, rise in sea level, depletion of non-renewable resources, melting of glaciers,
extinction of species, polluted landfills, toxic dust, decreasing soil fertility, rise in air and
water pollution and many more.

Human beings are considered to be the most intelligent species living on earth. This
could be why it is the only species on earth which has civilized itself over the decades to
a large extent. Today, human beings boast as being superior to all other animals but
what is the use of such great intelligence when environment ethics are not followed?

Cutting down of trees is something that many humans do for their own benefit, without
any concern for the animals which are dependent on trees for survival. Using fossil
fuels erratically, industrialization, pollution, disturbing ecological balance, all these are
attributable to human activities. Just because we are in possession of all of these
natural resources does not mean that we can use those resources in any manner in
which we choose without keeping anything for the future generations.
Impacts On Technology:

Technology to date has fulfilled many promises. And it offers many more for the future.
Unfortunately, people, often mesmerized by technology’s phenomenal growth, fail to
foresee potentially disastrous consequences. How is this possible? I suspect that our
culture is predisposed to see only the positive side of technology. Filled with the spirit of
modernity—and postmodernity—most see little need for a critical look at technology

Vulnerable Technology:

There is something else. Technological development also faces threats from within.
Large-scale technical developments regularly prove to be vulnerable and risky. Due to
human error or poorly functioning technology, we are sometimes confronted with far-
reaching, unexpected consequences. Think of Chernobyl, the chemical disaster in
Bhopal, the “I love you” virus, or the Code Rep-worm. In a similar way, recent terrorist
attacks have underscored how vulnerable modern culture can be because of its
dependence on technology.

Power Over Technical Power:

Our conclusion is that whereas people used to be mainly threatened by the forces of
nature, they now also face the threat of a technological attempt to control everything.
The pressing question today is whether we can contain and control technology itself.

Given the potential for negative consequences to the risks taken, human responsibility
for these moves is becoming unbearable. Have we appropriated more technical power
than we can manage? Can we prevent what Albert Einstein referred to as “the
degradation of the scientific-technological culture”? These are ethical questions par
excellence.

The notion of technological control arose from the pretended autonomy of humankind,
from the claim to absolute freedom—and the assumption that scientific-technical control
will enhance this freedom. More and more, problems are presumed to be opportunities
for scientific-technical resolution. In a certain sense, only those problems are
recognized that can be solved through science and technology. Positivism later
declared all questions relating to spiritual reflection and religious problems as
nonsensical; they are, therefore, denied. It is not surprising that the technological culture
that took shape is accompanied by secularization and a spiritual void on a scale
previously unheard of. We could say that hidden behind the facade of modern
technology and the mask of autonomous individual freedom is a spiritual vacuum. That
people are not inclined to deny this, makes the situation even worse. The result is that a
technical way of thinking, a technological mindset, pervades the entire culture. Its
influence is evident in many sectors of society. In turn, the interrelationships of science,
technology, and the economy are likewise influenced by an overextended technical
spirit.