Moral Coil

This Moral Coil

Lindsey M. Shell

SOC 120

Professor Phillips

September 22, 2008

        Although environmental issues have plagued man since existence, serious manmade environmental issues such as global warming are more recently studied.  Even though global warming is highly disputed, there are massive impacts and steps to be taken if many scientists’ proposals are correct.  The earliest recorded conflict of warming was as early as 10,000 BC when the land bridge between Siberia and North America sunk and glacier melting caused waters to rise. This had massive impacts on the continents we now know as Asia and North America. In fact, early nomads might well have traveled by boat or at least along the coast from Siberia to North America, perhaps navigating arctic waters near today's Bering Strait (Curry, A., 2008).

        Around 5000 BC another change occurs that is global.  The planet at this time experiences a warming period, called the Older Peron Transgression.  This causes about 40 million species of animals to go extinct, altering the entire planet.  At this time, global sea levels were 2.5 to 4 meters (8 to 13 feet) higher than the twentieth-century average. The higher sea level lasted for several centuries and eroded coastlines. Several locations around the world have "Older Peron terraces" along their coasts as a result (Baker, R. V., Haworth, R.J., & Flood, P.G., 2004).

        Today the world faces its own threats on the environment, one of the most controversial being global warming.  The topic of the greenhouse effect was first mentioned in 1896 by Swedish scientist, Svante Arrhenius.  Formulated based on whether carbon dioxide actually caused the Ice Ages, he basically proposed that doubling CO2 concentration of the atmosphere would lead to a dramatic 5 degree Celsius change in environmental temperature.  To westerners this change would be an increase of 41 degrees Fahrenheit.  After this hypothesis the topic was forgotten for a long time as general thought was the human influences were insignificant compared to natural forces. (Enzler, S.M., 2008)

Suddenly, a mere 50 years later in 1948, fear hit scientists that another Ice Age may be drawing near. Charles Keeling used the most modern technologies available to produce concentration curves for atmospheric CO2 in Antarctica and Mauna Loa. These curves have become one of the major icons of global warming. The curves showed a downward trend of global annual temperature from the 1940's to the 1970's. At the same time ocean sediment research showed that there had been no less than 32 cold-warm cycles in the last 2.5 million years, rather than only 4.

Though much of the research was ignored, in 1976 the first prediction of global warming was made by Stephen Schneider.  In the 1980's the global annual mean temperature curve started to rise.  Organizations and panels were formed to monitor meteorological and geographical changes in the world; while others still persisted it was nothing but a scheme and pressured others not to think twice on the topic. (Unknown, 2008)

Stances taken on the issue of global warming are extremely diverse and often times precise. Many use predictions of world outcomes during global warming and others with ways to slow down or stop the process.  Some believe the diets of humans need to be changed in order to gain control over the atmosphere and rectify the planet.  Current global animal production is responsible for 18 per cent of all human-induced GHG emissions, with more than 60 billion farm animals reared each year. That figure is set to double by 2050 (Compassion in World Farming, 2008). The need to change our diet is increasingly urgent.  An average household would reduce the impact of their greenhouse gas emissions by more if they halved their meat consumption than if they halved their car usage.

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Dr. Pachauri, one of the world's leading experts on climate change, says that although people are now beginning to recognize the importance of cutting car and air journeys, insulating their homes and recycling, people don't fully realize the impact of livestock production on climate change, let alone its future impact:

"Meat production represents 18 per cent of global human-induced GHG emissions, including 37 per cent of global methane emissions, which has 23 times the Global Warming Potential of CO2 and 65 per cent of nitrous oxide, which has 296 times the warming potential of CO2," says Dr Pachauri. (2008, ...

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