Human Impacts on Ecosystems and Environmental Ethics

Posted on May 10, 2025 in Philosophy and ethics

Ocean Stressors & Marine Protection

Industrial, Petroleum & Coastal Impacts

  • Industrial Growth: Toxic chemicals introduced into water systems.
  • Petroleum Industry: Potential to contaminate habitats.
  • Coastal Development: Leads to water pollution and issues with waste disposal.

Tourism’s Toll on Coral Reefs

  • Direct Impacts: Anchors damaging reefs, harm from snorkeling activities.
  • Indirect Impacts: Waste generated by resorts, increased demand for seafood.

Consequences of Ocean Stressors

  • Pollution: Contributes to the loss of biodiversity.

Marine Protection Legislation

Key legislative acts for protecting marine environments include:

  • Oceans Act
  • Fisheries Act

Forest Ecosystems: Values & Threats

Benefits of Forest Ecosystems

Forests provide essential ecosystem-based values, such as:

  • Improving air quality
  • Stabilizing soil
  • Supporting recreation and tourism

Key Forest Management Concerns

Essential concerns for forests include:

  • Maintaining biodiversity within ecosystems.
  • Addressing the social and political dimensions of forest management.

Clayoquot Sound: Economic vs. Environment

The Clayoquot Sound conflict highlights tensions between:

  • Economic Aspects: Ensuring sufficient resources for trade.
  • Environmental Aspects: Preserving genetic, species, and ecological diversity.

Forest Recreation: Economy & Issues

Forest tourism and recreation contribute significantly to the economy but also face challenges:

  • Generates billions of dollars annually.
  • Important for outdoor recreation.
  • Problems: Forest fires, strain on infrastructure.

Environmental Ethics: Frameworks & Debates

Understanding Environmental Ethics

Ethics encompasses beliefs, guidelines, and rules that affect relationships between people and groups, particularly concerning the environment.

Non-Moral vs. Moral Approaches

  • Non-Moral Approach (Legal): Focuses on what the law requires (e.g., adhering to a speed limit).
  • Non-Moral Approach (Group Interest): Prioritizes the interests of a specific group that benefits that group (e.g., advocacy by bikers for their interests).
  • Moral Approach: This approach is prescriptive, suggesting actions like “we should do this” or “we should not do that.” These prescriptions aim for universal acceptability and define how we ought to act in a way that is accepted by most.

Rights Theory & Kant’s View

Rights Theory posits that morality is associated with a hierarchy of beings, often placing humans at the top.

Kant’s Perspective

Immanuel Kant viewed humans as rational, reasoning, and autonomous beings. He argued that animals do not possess moral standing. However, Kant suggested that abusing animals could desensitize humans and lead to the abuse of other humans.

Critiques of Rights Theory

Criticisms of Rights Theory include:

  • The seriousness and relevance of criteria used to establish rights.
  • The inherent potential for conflict due to its hierarchical structure.
  • The emphasis on the primacy of rationality, potentially excluding non-rational beings.

Hunting, Fishing & Animal Welfare

Recreational Hunting & Fishing Debate

Are hunting and fishing legitimate recreational activities?

  • Arguments For: Proponents argue it provides freedom, fosters an appreciation for nature, and offers a change of environment.
  • Arguments Against: Opponents contend it diminishes ecosystems and destroys habitats.

Regan on Hunting & Trapping Ethics

Tom Regan argues why hunting and trapping are generally wrong:

  • Self-Defense: Killing is justified only if one is threatened.
  • Standard Justifications: Often, the same outcomes (e.g., population control, food) can be achieved without hunting.
  • Tradition: Appealing to tradition is not a valid justification for harmful practices.

Eco-Utilitarianism: Ecosystem Health

Eco-Utilitarianism suggests that the right action is one that brings about the greatest possible good, where “good” is defined as the health and functioning of the ecosystem.

Singer: Animal Liberation & Suffering

Peter Singer’s view emphasizes avoiding conditions that cause animal suffering. He argues that the greatest pleasure involves no suffering, and thus, animal liberation is intertwined with human liberation.

Challenges to Utilitarianism

Critiques of utilitarian approaches in animal ethics include:

  • Difficulty in defining and measuring the happiness or suffering of animals.
  • The potential for giving more importance to certain animals over others.
  • The question of who decides what is best for animals or ecosystems.

Philosophies for Nature Conservation

The Land Ethic

Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic proposes that ethical ideas are rooted in evolutionary theory, ecology, and natural history. It fosters a sense of kinship with non-human beings, suggesting that a moral concern for these beings is the next logical step in ethical evolution.

Types of Outdoor Recreationists

Five categories of outdoor recreationists include:

  1. The hunter.
  2. The observer of nature.
  3. Those who document experiences (e.g., writing ‘bad verse on birch bark’).
  4. The unspecialized motorist whose recreation is primarily mileage.
  5. The professional (e.g., guide, researcher).

Elements of Recreational Experience

Five components of the recreational process are:

  1. The pursuit of physical objects (e.g., trophies, specimens).
  2. The feeling of isolation in nature.
  3. The experience of fresh air and a change of scenery.
  4. The perception and understanding of natural processes.
  5. The sense of husbandry or stewardship.

Deep Ecology: Core Tenets & Critiques

Deep Ecology challenges the dominant, often human-centered, way of thinking about the natural world.

Primary Precepts of Deep Ecology

  1. Bio-centric Egalitarianism: Humans are only one part of the ecosystem, with no inherent superiority.
  2. Self-Realization: Achieving a broader sense of self through identification with the natural world.

Critique of Deep Ecology

Criticisms include arguments that it is:

  • Potentially against human progress.
  • Offers solutions that may be perceived as overly simplistic.

Eco-Feminism: A Different Worldview

Eco-Feminism suggests a different worldview, critiquing interconnected systems of oppression. Its theory includes analyses of:

  • Hierarchical thinking and power structures.
  • Patriarchal values and their environmental impact.
  • The oppression of minority groups and nature.
  • The supreme value given to rationalistic thinking over other ways of knowing.
  • Dualistic categories (e.g., culture/nature, reason/emotion) that devalue one side.