Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
environmental crises that now confront us, its in
uence remains appa-
rent in the optimism that we can address them by identifying techno-
logical
xes that will allow economic growth to continue unabated.
118
It is from this perspective that values associated exclusively with the
utility of the natural world have developed. In light of this, a focus on its
sources and their validity should be the starting point for forming an
ethic that is capable of securing adherents and promoting strong envi-
ronmental protection because it re
ects the reality of our relationship
with nature.
Changes in our understanding of ecosystems challenge the
'
perspective and the belief that our powers of reasoning will enable us
to manipulate nature to our bene
'
dominion
rst challenge
relates to the reality of our position in the world. The development of
ecological science as a discipline and its emphasis on relationships between
species has directed attention away from our characteristics and towards
our interactions with biotic communities and the importance of maintain-
ing their health for our well-being. However, it is the application of com-
plex adaptive system theory to the analysis of ecosystems which most
clearly reveals the bankruptcy of the notion that humanity is a species
apart from nature. This shows us that we are not, in any respect, dominant,
but that we, along with other species are the bene
t in two respects. The
ciaries of enormous good
fortune that has resulted in the evolution and interaction of ecological
and earth systems in ways that generate the conditions which enable us
to survive.
119
The dynamic nature of ecosystems and their potential to
ip
into alternative states that may not be bene
cial for us, whether as a
consequence of human actions or, more importantly, from natural events
over which we have no control, reveals the reality of our position: that we
are not and will never be the masters of nature, but that we are dependent
on its resilience to fundamental change for our continued existence as a
species.
Thesecondchallengeisconcernedwiththecon
denceweretainin
our ability to understand how our activities affect the natural world, and
thereby to develop technological solutions that will either reduce the risk
of environmental problems arising from what we do or
x the problems
we cause. Although this perspective remains stubbornly entrenched, the
enormity of the changes in the way we perceive nature during the last
Limits of Knowledge (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2008), pp. 308
-
12; Curry,
'
Ecological Ethics
'
,pp.35
-
8.
118
J.Marocco,
'
Climate Change
'
, pp. 312
-
5; Curry,
'
Ecological Ethics
'
,pp.24
-
7.
119
Steffen et al.,
'
The Anthropocene
'
,614
-
21; Walker and Salt,
'
Resilience Practice
'
,p.195.
