mahb.stanford | The most important ethical question facing
society and the scientific community today is whether we can prevent
the collapse of global civilization in response to today’s “perfect
storm” of environmental problems. That is, will (or can) we pay enough
today to spare future generations from utter disaster? The interrelated
crises of overpopulation, wasteful consumption, rapidly deteriorating
life-support systems, growing economic inequity, widespread hunger and
poverty, toxification of the planet, declining resources, an increasing
threat of resource wars (especially over oil, gas, and fresh water), a
worsening epidemiological environment that enhances the probability of
unprecedented pandemics, and persistent racial, gender, and religious
prejudices that make these problems more difficult to solve, represent
the greatest challenge ever faced by Homo sapiens. The urgency
of finding answers is signified by the view of many scientists that
society may have only a decade to initiate drastic corrective action,
that this complex of interrelated problems is unrecognized by the elites
who run the world, and that it has not yet generated a global “issue
public” around sustainability. Civilization is fiddling while its
life-support systems burn.
