The Ethics of Early Warning Systems for Climate Change - Reducing Disaster: Early Warning Systems for Climate Change - page 292

of potential calamities. When the well-being of others is threatened by events that
have not yet occurred, but are likely to occur, collectively, we have a social respon-
sibility to initiate efforts to advance technology and build protective planning and
infrastructure such as EWS. To state the obvious, the future quickly fl ows into and
becomes the present. Not unlike the obligation between familial generations, there
ought to be a similar, but broader and more inclusive, generational connection that
considers current events as they affect, and become, the future. In turn, this concept
allows for constant and incremental decision-making.

15.16 The Challenge of Public Awareness and EWS

Because EWS will require considerable resources, it is essential that the public is
knowledgeable about the need for such an investment. After all, a successful EWS
can only work if the public works with it, both by assisting in early warnings and in
turn responding to warning. Furthermore when it comes to EWS, the public must
understand and appreciate that because of the change and volatility in contemporary
natural systems, EWS may at times underestimate, overestimate or even be com-
pletely wrong about a predicted environmental calamity. In the event of mis-
forecasting an extreme climate-related event, a focus on the ethical need for EWS
may garner more public support than if EWS were communicated as primarily a
scientifi c need. Participatory approaches cannot work without heightened aware-
ness, interest and engagement on the part of stakeholders and the public at large.
Broadening the scope of EWS will have a lower chance of success unless efforts are
also undertaken to change society's attitudes, perceived ethical responsibilities, in
relation to the environment. Parallel efforts are needed to increase society's aware-
ness, foster involvement and expand the educational basis for consensus building,
by increasing knowledge of all aspects of the environment by utilizing a broad range
of educational opportunities.

Acknowledgements We are very thankful to Dr. Hong Lee at Salem Hospital Campus, Oregon,
United States, and Dr. Derek Allen from the University of Toronto, Canada, for their critical
evaluation of this chapter.

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