Ethics and Environmental Issues
By Pablo Vazquez
SOC 102: Introduction to Ethics and Social Responsibility
Professor Donna Falloon
September 29, 2008
Ethics and Environmental Issues
Our planet Earth is fertile green paradise floating alone and proud amongst the many other lifeless world that make up our solar system. It is the only planet that is currently capable of sustaining life and sheltering it, with vast resources and different types of habitats to accommodate the many species that populate it. Amongst all the species that inhabit the earth, humans were the ones chosen to posses the distinct ability of intellect and reason, therefore elevating ourselves to be sophisticated beings capable of building civilizations and harnessing the resources that the earth provided us. Still, with the passing of time humanity has begun to concern itself with the evident fact that perhaps we are taking too much from the earth and not giving anything back to it. The world has begun to change due to our tampering with nature and our careless depletion of many of its resources. It is in moments like these that humankind must begin to question its choices concerning the earth and realize, that we as a species, have moral obligations towards our home the earth. In this paper, I will be discussing the many environmental issues that our world is currently facing and the effects it is having on the vast number of species that compose life on earth. I will also be talking about the ethical and social obligations that we as humans have towards our environment and the actions that must be taken to prevent further damage to our planet.
There are many environmental issues affecting our world today. Many of these problems have even begun to affect us at a global scale and not only have we put ourselves in grave peril but we have also managed to endanger every other species of life on earth. Perhaps one of the most recent and controversial dangers we face...