Ethics of nature and biodiversity

Human civilization was accompanied with the pollution, destruction of natural resources and biodiversity. The era of industrialization begins with emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases into the atmosphere. As researchers believe average temperatures of earth has increased over 74 %. Global warming causes droughts, rising of sea water level , penetrating saline water into freshwater resources, melting of polar ice, increasing of desertification trend and tropical diseases outbreak. Loss of biodiversity, reduction in forest production, changing of the border of farmlands and forests on high-latitude and wasting of semi-persistent of forest species are other consequences of the global warming. The effects of this phenomenon can be clearly seen in Zagros forests. According to studies done,Zagros region warming has lead to prolonged droughts period in the region. Besides, dusty storms and their sediments on the leaves can result in trees’ tension and therefore their physiologic weakness which at least cause trees being attacked by wood eater beetles. Using superseded energies such as sun , wind and water , protection of forests and forest plantation with species having high potential of carbon sequestration as well as standardizing the transportation vehicles for economizing energy are some effective strategies recommended for reducing the global warming effects.

This article analyzes the process of land distribution and the main production strategies adopted in the rural settlements of the southern half of the Rio Grande do Sul State (RS, Brazil) in recent years, considering the environmental compatibility with the size of the lots. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were conducted with qualified agents related to the agrarian region, as well as analysis of documents and bibliographies. The region studied had in their formation process of environmental transformation that constituted the Pampa biome, which is the result of coevolution between humans and biota, since the occupation of the territory by people from Tradition Umbu, who introduced fire management for hunting. With the arrival of Europeans and extensive livestock, the system was transformed through a process of environmental adaptation, resulting in the current form of the biome, with fields of high biodiversity. During the twentieth century this system was strongly influenced by the set of strategies and techniques related to agricultural production and agribusiness expansion in the region, that caused significant losses of biome biodiversity. In the 1980s, from social pressures for land reform in the region, emerged settlement policies with perspective of a strategy to encourage the development of the southern half of the RS. In these allotments, lands were divided into rural modules ranging from 10 to 30 hectares. The results demonstrate that the method used in the distribution, combined with conventional agricultural practices, will not guarantee environmental preservation of biome and will not make possible the reproduction of socioeconomic families in the medium and long term. From this analysis, it is evident that lots distributed, conditioned on socioeconomic and cultural fabric existing in the region, will lead to further loss of biodiversity and social inequalities. This process can only be reversed with consistent distribution methods and practice of compatible agriculture, on the basis of sustainable rural development.

Re-defining Sustainability: Living in Harmony with Life on Earth

Four Commentaries on the Pope’s Message on Climate Change and Income Inequality. IV. Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’, Global Environmental Risks, and the Future of Humanity.

Biodiversity loss is among the most urgent environmental concerns of our day, since it is a crucial element of the Earth’s backup systems, with direct impacts on human civilization. We examined the problems and conservation strategies, the role of governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders, as well as scientific data on the degree of biodiversity loss and the factors influencing it. The major direct cause of the continual mass extinction of populations and species of other creatures is the land conversion for agricultural purposes. Biodiversity loss is typically measured in terms of the degree of loss of species variety for practical reasons. Species populations, on the other hand, which are decreasing at an alarming rate than species, provide humanity with the benefits of biodiversity. Demographic heterogeneity has an impact on human health. Different populations of the same species may create different kinds or amounts of defensive chemicals (possible medicinal or pesticide substances). Thus, man’s well-being and the sustenance of his livelihood remain inextricably linked to biodiversity. As a result, there is a worldwide concern for biodiversity preservation and conservation in order for man to continue to preserve his livelihood. Industrial development is a component of man’s overall development activities. As beneficial as industries are, their expansion has negative effects. This study reviewed the threatened biodiversity caused by man’s varied activities and urged all levels of government and non-governmental organizations in Nigeria to prioritize biodiversity protection. This suggests that industrialization, urbanization, biodiversity loss, increasing desertification, greenhouse warming, water and air pollution, as well as hazardous waste buildup have had a deleterious impact on the ecosystem. Conserving natural resources is thought to give social, economic, visual, and aesthetic advantages that will maintain the citizens’ sound and qualitative health. This can be accomplished primarily through recognizing, comprehending, appreciating, and/or integrating endogenous and exogenous technologies.KeywordsConservation strategyEnvironmental challengesEndogenous and exogenous technologiesBiodiversity protectionIndustrial growthNon-governmental organizationNigeria

Global linguistic diversity is rapidly declining. As the world becomes less linguistically diverse, it is becoming culturally less diverse as well as the world’s tribes and languages are dying out or being assimilated into modern civilization because their habitats are being destroyed. At the same time the world is experiencing a substantial decline in biodiversity. The extinction of languages is part of the larger picture of near total collapse of the worldwide ecosystem, and languages are vital parts of complex local ecologies that must be supported if global biodiversity is to be maintained.KeywordsIntergenerational TransmissionDominant LanguageLanguage ShiftLanguage MaintenanceMonolingual SpeakerThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

The Battle Rages On

Human civilization is standing at the crossroads where rapid advances in technology, on one hand, has not only greatly improved the quality of life in respect of safety, security and physical well-being but on the other hand, has resulted in a sharp increase in lifestyle diseases like mental illnesses, raising concerns on whether the perceived notions of comfort and security are effective parameters for determining quality of life. Partially, it can be attributed to the unprecedented technological advances, which is resulting in rapid degradation and destruction of natural habitats. In May 2019, the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) voted in favour of designating a new geological epoch – the Anthropocene, which marks the beginning of significant human impact of the planet’s geology and ecosystems. Majority of these impacts are detrimental in nature, gravely endangering the future of the planet, and consequently, our own. To counter this, some recent technological advances are being directed towards mitigating threats to nature like climate change, global warming, loss of biodiversity and pollution, which have a positive intent but limited impact. Moreover, research has shown that using technology to mimic natural processes or environments, or ‘technological nature’ as we may call it, is not fully capable of ‘replacing’ or ‘substituting’ ‘real’ nature, as we are still scratching the surface of complex and often intertwined relationships within natural ecosystems, and our understanding of human beings’ intangible connections to natural surroundings is still a work in progress. It’s observed that even today, the livelihoods pertaining to primary sectors like agriculture and those directly dependent upon natural ecosystems/resources like pastoralism, cultivation and collection of medicinal plants etc., despite their low remunerative capacities, provide a better quality of life for people engaged in them, not only in terms of physical and mental health but also as a better social support system through more cohesive and close-knit communities. This chapter analyses the values in nature-based livelihoods that ensure human well-being and proposes a system for integrating these into other economic sectors.

Everything that surrounds or affects an organism during its lifetime is collectively referred to as its environment. It comprises both living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) components. Human civilisation and globalisation are the dominant culprits of constant change in the global environment in present scenario. Various processes that can be said to contribute to the global environmental problems include pollution, global warming, ozone depletion, acid rain, depletion of natural resources, overpopulation, waste disposal, deforestation and loss of biodiversity. Almost all these processes are the result of the use of natural resources in unsustainable manner. These processes have highly negative impact on our environment. One of the major impacts is the release of large quantities of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in atmosphere as the result of burning of fossil fuels by industries and automobiles. The result is the worldwide pollution problem, temperature fluctuation of our planet, ozone hole and possible change in Earth’s climate. Loss of forests, damage to water bodies (lakes and ponds) and their ecosystems by acid rain, over-exploitation of natural resources, massive extinction of species due to habitat destruction and other well-known causes worldwide are connected with environmental issues globally. The rapidly growing demographic structure and globalisation are leading to a number of environmental issues because of the uncontrolled urbanisation, industrialisation, deforestation and loss of useful agriculture land. The global environmental health impact remains profoundly perturbing. Unsafe water, poor sanitation and hygiene conditions, air pollution and global climate change accounts for nearly a tenth of deaths and disease burden worldwide. Due to above-mentioned environmental issues, our planet is facing severe environmental crisis. Current environmental problems lead to disasters and tragedies now, will also be the reason of casualties in future and require urgent attention from the responsible authorities/nations to frame appropriate laws to overcome these issues and also by making people aware to use natural resources in sustainable manner.

Judith Rodin: on the path to resilience in planetary health

The Declaration on Human Cloning was adopted at the 82nd United Nations plenary meeting on 8 March 2005. This Declaration crowned the efforts taken by France and Germany since 2001 to adopt a convention against the so-called reproductive human cloning. The negotiation was initially conceived as a bioethical debate that should have led to a general agreement to ban human cloning. However, more often, it took the form of a discussion on human rights, cultural, civil and religious differences among people, their interaction and the question of who or what has priority in case of potential conflicts among heterogeneous value systems. Neither the Declaration nor the negotiations gave any answers to these difficult questions, but they did allow superficial insight into the problems. They showed that international legislation falls into apories when professional argumentation does not prevail in conflicting attitudes, i.e. when political and other differences are in the middle of the dialogue. If one reads the Declaration carefully, it has an unexpected result since, because of its generality and attempts to establish a compromise between difficult-to-combine interests and definitions, it neither defines cloning of people nor prohibits it directly and unconditionally, including cloning for reproductive purposes. Finally, maybe it would have been better if the debate on the cloning controversies and subsequent comprehensive regulations were first left to scientists, philosophers and corresponding expert bodies and panels, who would explain the basic mechanisms of the cloning process and, more importantly, the bioethical implications of the process itself, because cloning is in intrinsic relation with a deliberate act and with the thinking of acting thinking, and only after the public had been fully informed about it, the relevant supranational institutions should deal with this problem.

The term biodiversity was introduced in the 1980s as a novel framing for the human dependence on the Earth's biosphere. 'Biodiversity loss' became the way to capture a major dimension of global environmental problems. The chapter describes stages of this process. The first phase of the spread of the term was its enthusiastic reception among environmentalists. Second, concern was integrated into international environmental policy at the Rio Conference in 1992 through the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Efforts to implement the convention have created an environmental regime both internationally and within different countries. However, due to its broad coverage of processes of living nature and its huge ambition to regulate human modification of nature and exploitation of natural resources, there have been major difficulties with implementation. In particular, how to integrate specific issues manifested in local contexts, and the global concern, has proved problematic.

Energy technologies have been greatly shaping society and the environment for the past two centuries. In fact, modern civilizations are largely dependent on fossil fuel energy technologies, which make high-density urban settlements possible. While technological progress has eliminated many problems, it has also added new and often unexpected ones (Grübler, 1998; Diamond, 2005). Emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) arising from the combustion of fossil fuels have been the main cause of anthropogenic global warming. All energy technologies, whether they are fossil-based or not, consume resources, use land and pollute air, water and the atmosphere. Energy use has reached a scale at which planetary boundaries are being breached for a range of essential Earth-system processes, including in terms of global warming and biodiversity loss, which is likely to lead to catastrophic environmental change (Rockström and others, 2009).

Earth-Honoring Faith

Since last century or so anthropogenic activities have intensely metamorphosed the earth’s ecosystem and resulted into major environmental changes. Widespread interference of human related activities have resulted in major problems including environmental pollution, land degradation, global warming/climate change, paucity of potable water supply and biodiversity loss. These issues have directly affected the quality and sustainability of the ecosystems. In addition, these activities have resulted in loss of habitats resulting in mass extinction of species which in itself is a matter of great concern. Studies and data clearly show that if present trends continue the conditions are expected to worsen in the coming time and human civilization itself will be in trouble. To minimize this crisis, possible green solutions like use of microbes and biotechnological tools are gaining importance and need further attention in order to lessen or remediate the harmful effects of anthropogenic activities thus ensuring environmental sustainability.