Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
populations of species are capable, through evolution
and speciation, of adapting to changing environmental
conditions.
Some people believe we must go beyond focusing
mostly on species. According to these people, we have
an ethical responsibility not to degrade the earth's
ecosystems, biodiversity, and biosphere for this and
future generations of humans and other species. This
earth-centered,
or
ecocentric,
environmental worldview
is devoted to preserving the earth's biodiversity and
the functioning of its life-support systems for all forms
of life.
One earth-centered worldview is called the
envi-
ronmental wisdom worldview.
Figure 18-21 (right)
summarizes its major beliefs. In many respects, it is
the opposite of the planetary management worldview
(Figure 18-21, left). According to this worldview, we
are part of—not apart from—the community of life
and the ecological processes that sustain all life (Fig-
ure 18-22).
This worldview suggests that the earth does not
need us managing it to go on, whereas we do need the
earth to survive. We cannot save the earth because it
does not need saving. What we need to save is the ex-
istence of our own species and other species that may
become extinct because of our activities. See Lester
Milbrath's Guest Essay on this topic on the website for
this chapter.
18-7
LIVING MORE SUSTAINABLY
Environmental Literacy
Environmentally literate citizens and leaders are
needed to build more environmentally sustainable
and just societies.
Most environmentalists believe that learning how
to live more sustainably requires a foundation of en-
vironmental education. They cite the key goals of envi-
ronmental education or ecological literacy:
■
Develop respect or reverence for all life.
■
Understand as much as we can about how the
earth works and sustains itself, and use such knowl-
edge to guide our lives, communities, and societies.
■
Look for connections within the biosphere and be-
tween our actions and the biosphere.
■
Use critical thinking skills to become seekers of en-
vironmental wisdom instead of overfilled vessels of
environmental information.
■
Understand and evaluate our environmental
worldview and see this as a lifelong process.
■
Learn how to evaluate the beneficial and harmful
consequences to the earth of our choices of lifestyle
and profession, today and in the future.
■
Foster a desire to make the world a better place
and act on this desire.
x
H
OW
W
OULD
Y
OU
V
OTE
?
Which of the following comes
closest to your environmental worldview: planetary manage-
ment, stewardship, or environmental wisdom? Cast your vote
online at http://biology.brookscole.com/miller11.
Specifically, an ecologically literate person should
have a basic comprehension of the following:
■
Concepts such as environmental sustainability, nat-
ural capital, exponential growth, carrying capacity,
and risks and risk analysis
■
Environmental history (to help keep us from re-
peating past mistakes)
■
The laws of thermodynamics and the law of con-
servation of matter
■
Basic principles of ecology
■
Human population dynamics
■
Sustainable cities and design
■
Ways to sustain biodiversity
■
Sustainable agriculture and forestry
■
Soil conservation
■
Sustainable water use
■
Nonrenewable mineral resources
■
Nonrenewable and renewable energy resources
■
Climate change and ozone depletion
■
Pollution prevention and waste reduction
■
Environmentally sustainable economic and politi-
cal systems
■
Figure 18-22
The earth flag is a symbol of commitment to promoting
environmental sustainability by working with the earth at the individual,
local, national, and international levels.
Environmental worldviews and ethics
