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Environmental Ethics and Land Management http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120 Timothy C. Weiskel Harvard Extension School Fall Semester 2012 Basic Concepts of Ecology 12 September 2012
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Environmental Ethics and Land Managementhttp://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
Timothy C. Weiskel
Harvard Extension SchoolFall Semester 2012
Basic Concepts of Ecology
12 September 2012
Environmental Ethics and Land Managementhttp://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
Timothy C. Weiskel
Harvard Extension SchoolFall Semester 2012
Basic Concepts of Ecology
12 September 2012
In this course we will need to ground all moral propositions in the context of ...
Environmental Ethics and Land Managementhttp://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
Timothy C. Weiskel
Harvard Extension SchoolFall Semester 2012
Basic Concepts of Ecology
In this course we will need to ground all moral propositions in the context of ...
The Moral Implications of “The Subversive, Conservative Science”
12 September 2012
…you may recall from last week…
…don’t get me wrong. Some of my best friends are…
Tim Weiskel - 6
… then we went on to discuss the the “tyranny of text” and the moral order, etc., etc.
Environmental Ethics and Land Managementhttp://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
Timothy C. Weiskel
Harvard Extension SchoolFall Semester 2012
Basic Concepts of Ecology
12 September 2012
Environmental Ethics and Land Managementhttp://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
Timothy C. Weiskel
Harvard Extension SchoolFall Semester 2012
Basic Concepts of Ecology
In this course we will need to ground all moral propositions in the context of ...
The Moral Implications of “The Subversive, Conservative Science”
12 September 2012
Tim Weiskel - 9
Tim Weiskel - 10
Tim Weiskel - 11
Tim Weiskel - 12
"Civilizations exist by geological consent, subject to change without notice."
Will Durant
Tim Weiskel - 16
Checking our the neighborhood…
Checking our the neighborhood…
Where did our nearest space ‘neighbor’ come from?
The moon was “thrown” into orbit as debris from a major meteor impact with the earth -- a major celestial collision.
Although “big events” like the cosmic encounter that produced the moon are very rare, other earth collisions with space debris are quite frequent, especially in the ‘asteroid belt.’
Encounters are ‘inevitable’...
The role of comets in the history of the earth is still being discovered.
Some suggest that life itself is extraterrestrial in origin….
What are the ethical implications, if any, of this?
Some cosmic events have had a big impact
Even if it turns out that life originated endogenously on Earth and only on Earth, we know that the history of life-forms has been dramatically altered by cosmic events in the past.
The “Asteroid Hypothesis” is currently the leading explanation offered for the “extinction event” represented by the KT Boundary in the geological record. http://paleobiology.si.edu/blastPast/
“Extinction events” are dramatic cases on cosmic intrusions into the history of life-forms on Earth, but smaller “events have occurred as well...
How might cosmic events have shaped life’s more recent history on Earth?
Some scientists are suggesting that cosmic events may well have directly affected the evolution of the human species. * http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1272000/1272368.stm
What if “we” (modern humans) emerged as a result of a cosmic event?
Whatever their role in Earth’s past, asteroids and meteors appear to be an ongoing “fact of life” on Earth. There is no “escaping” them. * http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_600000/600172.stm
In fact there is a call for new defenses to cope with them. * http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_930000/930564.stm
This is not just a “theoretical” problem.
This is not just a “theoretical” problem.
Consider what happened in June 1908….
In 1908 Earth experienced the largest explosion in “recorded history”…
In 1908 Earth experienced the largest explosion in “recorded history”…
…. The trouble was that it wasn’t recorded by many people at all.
Tunguska, Russia on 30 June 1908 -- (an artist’s impression).
There are now recent scientific expeditions to investigate what happened on June 30, 1908. *http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1628806.stm
Recent Events
The Don Quixote Mission.
… and check out the neighborhood.So, we should have a look around…
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3313/01.html
See what we’ve learned already….
"Civilizations exist by geological consent, subject to change without notice."
Will Durant
(with ENVR E-120 amendments)
See what we’ve learned already….
"Civilizations exist by geological consent, subject to change without notice."
Will Durant
(with ENVR E-120 amendments)
& cosmic
"Civilizations exist by geological consent, subject to change without notice."
Will Durant
(with ENVR E-120 amendments)
on short& cosmic
See what we’ve learned already….
"Civilizations exist by geological consent, subject to change without notice."
Will Durant
(with ENVR E-120 amendments)
on short
Species
& cosmic
See what we’ve learned already….
"Civilizations exist by geological consent, subject to change without notice."
Will Durant
(with ENVR E-120 amendments)
& cosmic on short
SpeciesLocal and global ecosystems
See what we’ve learned already….
A general truth…
Throughout the observable universe, the whole system is run on just 2 fundamental sources of energy:
1) “cosmic” power (“left-over” from the Big Bang and super nova explosions – geothermal, nuclear, cosmic/kinetic force); and
1a) current solar throughput power.
What could the human role be in the cosmic order?
Environmental Ethics must cope withVastly Different Scales of Time & Space
Cosmic time scales - the present to 109 - 1010 BP
To understand this we must remember that...
Environmental Ethics must cope withVastly Different Scales of Time & Space
Cosmic time scales - the present to 109 - 1010 BP
• What kinds of events occur in this time frame?
Environmental Ethics must cope withVastly Different Scales of Time & Space
Cosmic time scales - the present to 109 - 1010 BP
• What kinds of events occur in this time frame?
• Over what spatial ranges do these conditions apply?
Environmental Ethics must cope withVastly Different Scales of Time & Space
Cosmic time scales - the present to 109 - 1010 BP
• What kinds of events occur in this time frame?
• Over what spatial ranges do these conditions apply?
• What -- if anything -- is the human significance of events that occur at cosmic time and spatial scales?
Environmental Ethics must cope withVastly Different Scales of Time & Space
Cosmic time scales - the present to 109 - 1010 BP
• What kinds of events occur in this time frame?
• Over what spatial ranges do these conditions apply?
• What -- if anything -- is the human significance of events that occur at cosmic time and spatial scales?
• Do humans have any importance beyond very short temporal scales?
We have other cosmic “issues”
But what of other cosmic “issues,” closer to home in both time and space?
We have other cosmic “issues”
But what of other cosmic “issues,” closer to home in both time and space?
What about our nearest neighbors -- beyond the moon -- upon which all life on Earth’s surface depends?
What are “sun eruptions”? Why should we care? *
rtsp://rm.bbc.net.uk/news/olmedia/290000/video/_293638_sun_eruption_vi.rm
The sun most certainly affects climate -- in ways we do not fully understand.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3251481.stm
**
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3515788.stm
**
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5371162.stm
The sun’s “weather” also affects us quite directly in terms of how we communicate and “protect” ourselves on earth.
Cosmic time scales - 109 - 1010 BP
Geologic time scales - present - 109 BP
Vastly Different Scales of Time & Space
As with “cosmic” time scales and events, so too, we must consider “geological time” scales and events in developing an effective environmental ethic.
What are “geological events?”
On Earth, stuff happens.
What are “geological events?”
On Earth, stuff happens.
Volcanoes happen…
What are “geological events?”
On Earth, stuff happens.
Volcanoes happen…
Volcanoes often happen near inhabited areas, but have wide-spread and sometimes global impacts. * http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_697000/697264.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/news/world/video/117000/bb/117319_16x9_bb.asx
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4972366.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/628515.stm
Distant and Invisible Volcanoes...
Tsumanis - giant waves or “walls of water” -- can be triggered by submarine volcanoes or earth slides provoked by volcanoes.
Some of these have received recent attention. *
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5194316.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1513342.stm
Cosmic time scales - 109 - 1010 BP
Geologic time scales - present - 109 BP
Bioevolutionary time scales - present - 109 BP
Vastly Different Scales of Time & Space
Vastly Different Scales of Time & Space
Cosmic time scales - 109 - 1010 BP
Geologic time scales - present - 109 BP
Bioevolutionary time scales - present - 109 BP
Hominid time scales - present - 106 BP
Tim Weiskel - 78
In “homonid time scales” (millions of years), what has accounted for the evolution of various species ?
Vastly Different Scales of Time & Space
Cosmic time scales - 109 - 1010 BP
Geologic time scales - present - 109 BP
Bioevolutionary time scales - present - 109 BP
Hominid time scales - present - 106 BP
Cultural-Evolutionary time scales - 105
Vastly Different Scales of Time & Space
Cosmic time scales - 109 - 1010 BP
Geologic time scales - present - 109 BP
Bioevolutionary time scales - present - 109 BP
Hominid time scales - present - 106 BP
Cultural-Evolutionary time scales - 105
Civilization time scales - 104
Vastly Different Scales of Time & Space
Cosmic time scales - 109 - 1010 BP
Geologic time scales - present - 109 BP
Bioevolutionary time scales - present - 109 BP
Hominid time scales - present - 106 BP
Cultural-Evolutionary time scales - 105
Civilization time scales - 104
Historical time scales - 10 - 103
With all the shocks the earth system has experienced, what could a title like “Planetary Overload” possibly mean? Is the planet overloaded? In what sense?
We live in an open energy, closed material system, governed by the second law of thermodynamics.
What is our species role in this system?
Throughput Energy Flow Can Be Measured
Water Circulation Can be Measured
Carbon Circulation (and flow of other elements) Can Be Measured as well…
Both “stocks” and “flows” can be measured…
It turns out that life has been a “geological force” on Earth for far longer than humans have been part of the biosphere -- the full “committee of life forms.” By capturing and expending solar energy, millions of life-forms have influenced and “regulated” the “stocks” and “flows” of materials in Earth’s closed system.
It turns out that life has been a “geological force” on Earth for far longer than humans have been part of the biosphere -- the full “committee of life forms.” By capturing and expending solar energy, millions of life-forms have influenced and “regulated” the “stocks” and “flows” of materials in Earth’s closed system.
We live in a highly improbable atmosphere made possible by everything from “farting ants” to anaerobic bacteria alive for eons before we emerged as a species.
It turns out that life has been a “geological force” on Earth for far longer than humans have been part of the biosphere -- the full “committee of life forms.” By capturing and expending solar energy, millions of life-forms have influenced and “regulated” the “stocks” and “flows” of materials in Earth’s closed system.
We live in a highly improbable atmosphere made possible by everything from “farting ants” to anaerobic bacteria alive for eons before we emerged as a species.
In one respect, however, things are quite different now that humans have expanded to such massive numbers.
Things aren’t as they have always been. There is “something new under the sun” … Human population growth….
But there is broad range of alternatives in the future. Thus, the future is hard to predict in detail
Sometimes Humans behave as a “Geological Force”in obvious and immediate ways…
It is reasonable to talk about not just life, but human life as a geological force with dramatic immediate impact.
Sometimes Humans behave as a “Geological Force”in obvious and immediate ways…
It is reasonable to talk about not just life, but human life as a geological force with dramatic immediate impact.
Certainly the impact of humans is visible now from space….
Sometimes Humans behave as a “Geological Force”in obvious and immediate ways…
It is reasonable to talk about not just life, but human life as a geological force with dramatic immediate impact.
Certainly the impact of humans is visible now from space….
And even when our behavior generates emissions that are “invisible” (CO2), these emissions may yet change Earth’s delicate balances required for life as we know it.
For example, ecologists tell us that by oxidizing vast amounts of terrestrial carbon over the last 250 years, humans have changed the thermo-conductivity of the atmosphere. The resulting increase in surface temperature has lead to the wide scale melting of circum-polar permafrost, with the potential for triggering a run-away release of previously trapped methane. Thus, collectively, humankind may have pushed the Earth system beyond a “tipping point” toward accelerating instability.
We are still assessing the ecological impact of the Viet Nam war and the war in Kuwait over a decade ago, and the news is not encouraging.
We are still assessing the ecological impact of the Viet Nam war and the war in Kuwait over a decade ago, and the news is not encouraging.
The question is simply:Can we survive our own skills of killing and destroying the life support systems we need to survive?
We are still assessing the ecological impact of the Viet Nam war and the war in Kuwait over a decade ago, and the news is not encouraging.
The question is simply:Can we survive our own skills of killing and destroying the life support systems we need to survive?
Answer: No, not without a whole new understanding of our role in the changing ecosystem.
We are still assessing the ecological impact of the Viet Nam war and the war in Kuwait over a decade ago, and the news is not encouraging.
The question is simply: Can we survive our own skills of killing and destroying the life support systems we need to survive?
Answer: No, not without a whole new understanding of our role in the changing ecosystem.
Developing a new environmental ethic of sustainability is our last, best chance of survival...
Three Big Assumptions…. In the 19th century we learned that Earth is an “old”
and stable place. It has evolved over 4.5 billion years and changes to it come gradually (soils erode, continents drift…. )
Tim Weiskel - 99
Three Big Assumptions…. In the 19th century we learned that Earth is an “old”
and stable place. It has evolved over 4.5 billion years and changes to it come gradually (soils erode, continents drift…. )
Earth is generally a benign environment for humans. After all we evolved here. We belong here.
Tim Weiskel - 100
Three Big Assumptions…. In the 19th century we learned that Earth is an “old”
and stable place. It has evolved over 4.5 billion years and changes to it come gradually (soils erode, continents drift…. )
Earth is generally a benign environment for humans. After all we evolved here. We belong here.
The world is “supra-human” – way beyond human interference, too vast and too enormous for any humans to have an impact upon it. We live “on” Earth. It is out there and independent of us.
Tim Weiskel - 101
Three Big Assumptions….ALL Wrong? In the 19th century we learned that Earth is an “old”
and stable place. It has evolved over 4.5 billion years and changes to it come gradually (soils erode, continents drift…. )
Earth is generally a benign environment for humans. After all we evolved here. We belong here.
The world is “supra-human” – way beyond human interference, too vast and too enormous for any humans to have an impact upon it. We live “on” Earth. It is out there and independent of us.
Tim Weiskel - 102
McGuire, Bill
2012 "Climate change will shake the Earth," The Guardian - U.K., (26 February 2012 14.59 EST Sunday).
Tim Weiskel - 104
McGuire, Bill
2012 "Climate change will shake the Earth," The Guardian - U.K., (26 February 2012 14.59 EST Sunday).
Tim Weiskel - 105
Mozart’s Prayer
Soave sia il vento,
tranquila sia l’onda,..
May the wind be gentle,
may the wave be calm,…
Souave sia il vento,
tranquila sia l’onda,
ed ogni elemento
benigno risponda
ai nostri desir.
May the wind be gentle,
may the wave be calm, and may every element
respond benignly
to our wishes.
Mozart’s Prayer
May the wind be gentle,
may the wave be calm,
May the wind be gentle,
may the wave be calm,
and may every element
respond benignly
to our wishes.
We now know our place in this vast, cold and
expanding universe…
We now know our place in this vast, cold and
expanding universe…
What should be our role?
We now know our place in this vast, cold and
expanding universe…
What should be our role?
How should we behave here and now, if we want the human enterprise to survive?
We now know our place in this vast, cold and
expanding universe…
What should be our role?
How should we behave here and now, if we want the human enterprise to survive?
Within consequentialist ethics it is understood that we are all -- individually and collectively -- responsible for the foreseeable consequences of our own actions.
Rules for how we ought to act are therefore understood to be derived from the foreseeable consequences of our behavioral choices.
Within consequentialist ethics it is understood that we are all -- individually and collectively -- responsible for the foreseeable consequences of our own actions.
Rules for how we ought to act are therefore understood to be derived from the foreseeable consequences of our behavioral choices.
Environmental Ethics and Land Managementhttp://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
Timothy C. Weiskel
Harvard Extension SchoolFall Semester 2012
Basic Concepts of Ecology
In this course we will need to ground all moral propositions in the context of ...
The Moral Implications of “The Subversive, Conservative Science”
12 September 2012
Environmental Ethics and Land Managementhttp://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
Timothy C. Weiskel
Harvard Extension SchoolFall Semester 2012
Basic Concepts of Ecology
In this course we will need to ground all moral propositions in the context of ...
The Moral Implications of “The Subversive, Conservative Science”
12 September 2012
Environmental Ethics and Land Managementhttp://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
Timothy C. Weiskel
Harvard Extension SchoolFall Semester 2012
Basic Concepts of Ecology
In this course we will need to ground all moral propositions in the context of ...
The Moral Implications of “The Subversive, Conservative Science”
12 September 2012
Environmental Ethics and Land Managementhttp://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
Timothy C. Weiskel
Harvard Extension SchoolFall Semester 2012
Basic Concepts of Ecology
In this course we will need to ground all moral propositions in the context of ...
The Moral Implications of “The Subversive, Conservative Science”
12 September 2012
Environmental Ethics and Land Managementhttp://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
Timothy C. Weiskel
Harvard Extension SchoolFall Semester 2012
Basic Concepts of Ecology
In this course we will need to ground all moral propositions in the context of ...
The Moral Implications of “The Subversive, Conservative Science”
12 September 2012
