Ethics, Public Policy, and Global Warming

TitleEthics, Public Policy, and Global Warming
Publication TypeJournal Article
AuthorsJamieson, Dale
JournalScience, Technology, & Human Values
Volume17
Issue2
Pagination139-153
AbstractThere are many uncertainties concerning climate change, but a rough international consensus has emerged that a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide from its preindustrial baseline is likely to lead to a 2.5 degree centigrade increase in the earth's mean surface temperatureb y the middleo f the next century.S uch a warmingw ould have diverse impacts on human activities and would likely be catastrophic for many plants and nonhuman animals. The author's contention is that the problems engendered by the possibility of climate change are not purely scientific but also concern how we ought to live and how humans should relate to each other and to the rest of nature; and these are problems of ethics and politics.