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222Cairns: Eco-Ethics and Sustainability Ethicsastrophes occur, there must be evidence that alternatives to humankind’s present unsustainable practicesare readily available. Unmanaged use is driven by very powerful economic and political forces,but the laws and forces of nature always prevail. Ultimately, populations of all species, includinghumans, must remain within the planet’s carrying capacity or suffer major declines.ECO-ETHICSAs Ehrlich (2001) notes, there is no question that Homo sapiens is causing the sixth major era ofbiotic extinction but is also altering the course of evolution for millions of years into the future. Henotes that the ethical questions about intervention are very similar to the closely related issue of thepreservation of biodiversity (Ehrlich and Ehrlich, 1981). Plato (Honderich, 1995) and Kant (Gregor,1996) believed that there exists a universe of ethics quite independent of the universe humankindinhabits. For these scholars, the question of the ethics of redirecting evolution already exists.Nitecki and Nitecki (1993) believe that ethics are a component of the evolutionary process andtherefore “good.” Ehrlich (2001) believes that the capacity to hold and share values is a componentof human evolution. This view appears most congruent with: (1) sustainable use of the planet,(2) limiting human population size, and (3) severely reducing the rate of immigration from countriesthat have already exceeded their carrying capacity.Ehrlich (2001) asserts that the evolution of ethics appears to be a product of a complex brain thatevolved for, in part, interacting with other intelligent individuals living in small social groups (e.g.,tribes). He notes that the genesis of ethics seems to trace to the appearance of empathy, which is“walking in another person’s shoes.” The capability of considering the mental processes ofmembers of one’s tribe or group and relating emotionally to their states probably resulted in areproductive advantage and probably was a predisposition created by natural selection. Geneticcomponents simply cannot incorporate adequate “instructions” into the brain’s structure toprogram an appropriate reaction to every conceivable behavioral situation or even a very largenumber of them (Ehrlich, 2001). This description is appropriate for the situation for both carryingcapacity and sustainable use of the planet. Achieving an operable level of consensus on both willbe a monumental but essential goal for human survival.A very carefully reasoned ethical argument for both carrying capacity and sustainable use of theplanet should, at least, reduce the number of unsustainable practices that now make the planetless habitable for posterity. At present the choices between sustainable and unsustainable practicesis difficult for most people. They are constantly being told that such choices need not bemade. Worse yet, ethical evolution always lags behind technological evolution because the benefitsare constantly touted while the environmental “surprises” are not.As the human population continues to grow, the areas of the planet not already at full carryingcapacity will reach that dangerous point. This situation will occur even with a falling birth rate ifimmigration is not severely limited or reduced to zero net immigration.Ethics and science are interrelated and interactive and need to be integrated in a holistic way.Ethics is the sine qua non of human society, providing value systems for humankind’s models forconduct. However, ethics can only expound on what to do — science is essential for illuminatingwhat can be done. All the issues in this article involve viewing Homo sapiens as a part of nature andrequire a balanced co-existence with the 30+ million other species on the planet, which collectivelyconstitute the biospheric life support system.The development and implementation of eco-ethics is the most important prerequisite for attainingand maintaining a harmonious relationship between human requirements and ecosystem
Article 26223carrying capacities and, thus, also for lengthening the span the human species can persist. Onlythrough a development and application of eco-ethics can a catastrophe of gigantic dimensions beavoided (Kinne, 2001). The goal is to maintain Earth as a suitable habitat for humankind for manygenerations. However, this suitable habitat requires treating the interdependent web of life as inviolateand acknowledging humankind’s dependence upon it.WHY WORRY? WE HAVE PLENTY OF TIMESince most people think linearly rather than exponentially, any type of exponential growthcatches them unawares. A two percent growth rate seems harmless, but the resulting doublingtime is 35 years. For a town, this growth means doubling housing, schools, utilities, police and fireprotection, and roads every 35 years. Policy makers rarely plan for exponential growth in mostareas of life, but are obsessed with it for the stock market, corporate earnings, and increased sizeof towns, cities, church congregations, and the like. The importance of exponential growth is thatit causes populations to exceed carrying capacity through both size and increased depletion ofresources. Nature levies brutal penalties for exceeding carrying capacity, such as famine, disease,and war. Regrettably, people are not alarmed by exponential growth because those with short-termmemories regard present circumstances as normal. For example, the rate of human populationincrease is regarded as normal although, in terms of geologic or evolutionary time, it is aberrant.The global extinction of species crisis is well known. But as Myers and Knoll (2001) note, probablymore significant in the long term is that the crisis will disrupt and deplete certain processes ofevolution, with consequences likely to persist for millions of years. This biotic crisis is the result ofhuman activities that will be difficult to change. Tilman and Lehman (2001) believe that humancausedenvironmental changes are creating regional combinations of environmental conditionsthat, within the next 50 to 100 years, may fall outside of the envelope within which many of theterrestrial plants of a region evolved. Although mass extinctions probably account for the disappearanceof less than five percent of all extinct species, the evolutionary opportunities they havecreated have had a disproportionate effect on the history of life (Erwin, 2001). Mass extinctionsappear to cause a collapse of ecospace, which must be rebuilt during recovery (Erwin, 2001). Adelay of about five million years has long been apparent in the Early Triassic, after the end of thePermian mass extinction (Erwin, 2001).Invasive species are also a major factor in environmental disequilibrium. Elton (1958) was one ofthe pioneers to state that one of the great historical convulsions in the world’s fauna and flora isoccurring. This event is the result of a drastic breaching of biogeographic barriers that previouslyhad isolated the continental biotas for millions of years (Mooney and Cleland, 2001). Invasive speciesalter the evolutionary pathway of native species by competitive exclusion, niche displacement,hybridization, introgression, predation, and ultimately extinction (Mooney and Cleland, 2001).These authors conclude that the biota of Earth is undergoing a dramatic transformation, and everyindication is that these transformations will intensify as the human population continues to growbecause of the global changes that have been set in motion that are affecting the atmosphere andthe climate. Western (2001) remarks that ecosystem simplification is the ecological hallmark ofhumanity and the reason for humankind’s evolutionary success. However, the side effects ofhuman profligacy and poor resource practices are now so pervasive as to threaten the future, noless than that of biological diversity itself.The changes just briefly described are consistent with mainstream ecological science. The conclusionsare almost more than the mind can accept and far beyond the primary issues of the Kyoto
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