disciplines, and this entry attempts to provide a
holistic overview of the current observations of
climate change based on scientific and ethical
considerations. Our analysis includes the atmosphere and hydrosphere, and the impacts of climate change on society. The aim is to provide a
fuller account of climate change from perspective
of disciplines not often seen together, thus providing a more comprehensive account of the most
defining problem of our time.
Introduction
Climate change and air pollution are closely
linked; climate change is caused by air pollution,
and climate change makes air pollution worse. Air
pollution from human society is the key factor
currently driving climate change. As it is a significant existential threat to society, climate change is
not only the subject of intense scientific research,
but it is also an important ethical issue. Ethics, and
in particular environmental ethics, is an important
tool to analyze the ethical implications and moral
acceptability of human actions. Despite the
mounting evidence of the causes of climate
change, environmental pollution, and their
effects, action to tackle these issues has been
nominal, slowed down by myopic economic factors that dominate the discussions surrounding
climate and environmental policy. It is clear to
many that the economy is a subset of society that
can only operate within the context of the biosphere and that in addition to threatening human
well-being and health, climate change threatens
global ecosystem functioning as we know it.
This entry is mainly concerned with the problems and ethical implications of climate change
on the sustainability of human society. The
attempt is to provide a preliminary roadmap of
the main scientific research and ethical issues with
climate change and air pollution. The influence of
economic development on climate change and the
current status of the natural environment will be
explored, driven by a number of key questions:
What strategies can be used to mitigate climate
change? Can we contextualize anthropogenic
climate change in ethical terms? Can and should
we attempt to restore environmental damage?
Current scientific evidence combined with ethical arguments can yield a strong foundation for
change and guide us toward stronger actions and
strategies for dealing with climate change and
environmental restoration.
Atmospheric Chemistry: The Physical
Origin of Climate Change
Climate is determined by flows of energy and
material within the Earth system; key factors are
radiation, flows of air and water, and evaporation
and condensation of water. Nearly all of the
planet’s energy comes from our sun at a rate of
174,600 TW, which represents 99.977% of power
from all sources. In comparison, tidal energy contributes only 3 TW, fossil fuel combustion 14 TW,
and geothermal energy 23 TW [5]. The Earth system is in a state of dynamic equilibrium between
“shortwave” radiation, coming from the sun, mainly
at visible wavelengths, and “longwave” radiation
emitted from surface into space – mainly at infrared
(IR) wavelengths. Our atmosphere is largely transparent to shortwave radiation, and roughly 30% of
incoming sunlight is reflected back into space by
clouds, ice, and the surface of the planet. The rest is
absorbed at the surface and re-emitted as longwave
radiation [6, 7].
There are many gases in the atmosphere that
absorb and re-emit thermal radiation, hindering its
escape. Absorption and emission of infrared light
are allowed if there is a change in the molecule’s
dipole moment for a given vibrational mode. Thus
many gases absorb infrared (IR) light, including
water vapor (H 2 O), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O), dichlorodifluoromethane (CCl 2 F 2 ), and ozone (O 3 ). Oxygen (O 2 )
and nitrogen (N 2 ) do not have a dipole moment
and therefore do not absorb IR radiation. This
means that our planet has always had a strong
natural greenhouse effect due to the presence of
water vapor and carbon dioxide. An increase in
the concentration of any “greenhouse gas” (one
that traps infrared heat radiation) causes an
increased warming effect.
Air Pollution and Climate Change: Sustainability, Restoration, and Ethical Implications
281
holistic overview of the current observations of
climate change based on scientific and ethical
considerations. Our analysis includes the atmosphere and hydrosphere, and the impacts of climate change on society. The aim is to provide a
fuller account of climate change from perspective
of disciplines not often seen together, thus providing a more comprehensive account of the most
defining problem of our time.
Introduction
Climate change and air pollution are closely
linked; climate change is caused by air pollution,
and climate change makes air pollution worse. Air
pollution from human society is the key factor
currently driving climate change. As it is a significant existential threat to society, climate change is
not only the subject of intense scientific research,
but it is also an important ethical issue. Ethics, and
in particular environmental ethics, is an important
tool to analyze the ethical implications and moral
acceptability of human actions. Despite the
mounting evidence of the causes of climate
change, environmental pollution, and their
effects, action to tackle these issues has been
nominal, slowed down by myopic economic factors that dominate the discussions surrounding
climate and environmental policy. It is clear to
many that the economy is a subset of society that
can only operate within the context of the biosphere and that in addition to threatening human
well-being and health, climate change threatens
global ecosystem functioning as we know it.
This entry is mainly concerned with the problems and ethical implications of climate change
on the sustainability of human society. The
attempt is to provide a preliminary roadmap of
the main scientific research and ethical issues with
climate change and air pollution. The influence of
economic development on climate change and the
current status of the natural environment will be
explored, driven by a number of key questions:
What strategies can be used to mitigate climate
change? Can we contextualize anthropogenic
climate change in ethical terms? Can and should
we attempt to restore environmental damage?
Current scientific evidence combined with ethical arguments can yield a strong foundation for
change and guide us toward stronger actions and
strategies for dealing with climate change and
environmental restoration.
Atmospheric Chemistry: The Physical
Origin of Climate Change
Climate is determined by flows of energy and
material within the Earth system; key factors are
radiation, flows of air and water, and evaporation
and condensation of water. Nearly all of the
planet’s energy comes from our sun at a rate of
174,600 TW, which represents 99.977% of power
from all sources. In comparison, tidal energy contributes only 3 TW, fossil fuel combustion 14 TW,
and geothermal energy 23 TW [5]. The Earth system is in a state of dynamic equilibrium between
“shortwave” radiation, coming from the sun, mainly
at visible wavelengths, and “longwave” radiation
emitted from surface into space – mainly at infrared
(IR) wavelengths. Our atmosphere is largely transparent to shortwave radiation, and roughly 30% of
incoming sunlight is reflected back into space by
clouds, ice, and the surface of the planet. The rest is
absorbed at the surface and re-emitted as longwave
radiation [6, 7].
There are many gases in the atmosphere that
absorb and re-emit thermal radiation, hindering its
escape. Absorption and emission of infrared light
are allowed if there is a change in the molecule’s
dipole moment for a given vibrational mode. Thus
many gases absorb infrared (IR) light, including
water vapor (H 2 O), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O), dichlorodifluoromethane (CCl 2 F 2 ), and ozone (O 3 ). Oxygen (O 2 )
and nitrogen (N 2 ) do not have a dipole moment
and therefore do not absorb IR radiation. This
means that our planet has always had a strong
natural greenhouse effect due to the presence of
water vapor and carbon dioxide. An increase in
the concentration of any “greenhouse gas” (one
that traps infrared heat radiation) causes an
increased warming effect.
Air Pollution and Climate Change: Sustainability, Restoration, and Ethical Implications
281