Directions: Respond to the following question in your own words, citing any outside sources if necessary. Points will be reduced if you mention state governmental authorities.
Is the global climate changing for the worse as a result of human activities? What, if anything, should humans as cosmopolitans (citizens of the cosmos) do about it?
Directions: Respond to the following question in your own words, citing any outside sources if necessary. Points will be reduced if you mention state governmental authorities.
Climate changes happen often. I don't think human activity has had much to do with the global heating trend ( That ended in 1998 ) but I also think it's impossible to end CO2 emissions without drastically violating property rights.
Okay, I guess it's only fair that I post my views as well. Keep in mind that it's been a couple of years since I studied Environmental Science, so whilst I do have some grasp of the facts involved - albeit at a basic level - they may not be up to date and may be getting hazy. I am aware that there have been periods of naturally occuring climate change in the past, some much more drastic than what is occuring now. However, the unusual rate at which changes are being noticed convinces me that human activity is playing at least some part in the current changes. I also think it's worth remembering that, even if humans are contributing little or nothing towards the climate change, it could still have the potential to affect human lives negatively, and would therefore be in our interests to do what we can to minimise its impact on us. On the other side of the coin though, I do feel that the issue has become something of a trendy cause that a lot of the people involved in don't fully understand, with people exagerrating the impact and danger and especially about how much they 'notice' the changes. Also, some of the tone of those proposing anti climate-change measures has seemed rather anti-life, having something of a suspicion of human achivement and happiness. Personally, I believe that however we respond to climate change, it has to be in a way that allows not just for bare human survival, but for continued human flourishing as far as is possible. It should also go without saying that I believe that change should come from within individual's own lives and not be state-led.