Sustainability

The use of greenhouses is an issue that poses a fundamental ethical question of how the human factor utilizes the environment. The basic use of greenhouses is to shield crops from excessive heat and also to secure the crops from unwanted pests. Greenhouses are inventions that were made to solve the food security question around the globe as they are purposefully used to shield certain types of crops most of which are agricultural products (Mischna 564). The use of greenhouses is, therefore, to ensure that the crops find a favorable environment to grow. They enhance food security, and hence they can be said to be ethically good as they are made for the benefit of the human factor.  

The ethical question that is however posed by greenhouses is that they have been instrumental in affecting climate around the globe. Greenhouses are particularly some of the greatest contributors to the greenhouse effect among other contributors such as vehicle and industrial emissions. The greenhouse works by trapping some gases inside the greenhouse such as water vapor, carbon (IV) Oxide and Oxygen. It is however undeniable that the natural greenhouses that are made release effective amounts of gases such as Carbon (IV) Oxide, nitrous oxides, and chlorofluorocarbons. On average, the cases that are released into the environment by the greenhouses being part of the larger greenhouse effect can change the natural climatic patterns to the negative edge. For instance, the world is likely to get warmer as an increased number of greenhouses are made use of. A climatic imbalance is also set to be on the rise where some areas may turn hotter while other places turn instrumentally colder. In the long run, the use of more greenhouses will cause a great and unsustainable climatic imbalance. 

Ethical Considerations at Stake

Human Well-Being

The use of greenhouses leads to a consequent release of emissions that are likely to affect the environment in such an effective manner that could affect the well-being of humans. Most of the released gases are not compatible with the human body, and they are likely to cause respiratory issues on the body of the human being. The increased rise of temperature arising from the gases that are released to the environment by the greenhouses is also not fit for a human. Sustastainability however implies the improvement of the well-being of people and at least not a decline. “Sustainability’ therefore implies something about maintaining the level of human well-being so that it might improve but at least never decline”(O’Neill,  Holland, and Light 185). The most instrumental effect is overexposure to harmful rays of light that are carcinogenic. Climatic change is affiliated to the increase in skin cancers, and hence the use of greenhouses has a contribution to the changes showcasing that it is hurtful to the wellbeing of humans.

Animal Well-being

Different types of animals live in different parts of the world depending on the way that they are adapted to the living conditions in the particular locality. For instance, some animals cannot survive in the cold environments while they are others that cannot live in desert environments (Samimi and Zarinabadi 1014). In that essential case, the emissions that are released by greenhouses contribute to great changes in the climate, sometimes even causing wildfires which lead to the deaths of wild animals as well as drying of water bodies which hurt the existence of marine life in such a peculiar manner. The ethical obligation of caring for wild animals is therefore not addressed. 

Addressing the Case

The case of greenhouses is one that touches on the aspects of human, social and environmental welfare. In the view of human welfare, it is necessary to consider that greenhouse gases pose such a huge risk to human existence. In that view, therefore, human life needs to be immensely protected (Mischna 572). The issue could, therefore, be solved through the initiation of human considerate and safer methods of production of foods that can assure food security. Shifting from farming by the use of greenhouses and opting to make use of organic farming would, therefore, be an effective way to address the environmental impact of greenhouses.

Another view that can be used to address the greenhouse concerns is the determination of the numbers of greenhouses that can be set up in a particular locality and whose emissions are sustainable. Environmental welfare is the use of articulate environmental concerns to address environmental questions by use of proper founded research that is fulfilling (Samimi and Zarinabadi 1012). The determination of the number of greenhouses that can be confidently situated in a locality and which cannot release unsustainable amounts of gases can, therefore, be a solace to the question of environmental pollution by greenhouses.

Lastly, it would be irrational to address the way that greenhouses are used without addressing social concerns. Social concerns are the matters that face a society where sustainability is meant to be realized and social welfare has to be distributed among the society andconsequent generations too as O’Neill, Holland, and Light state, “And if we are seeking to maximise welfare over time whilst making allowance for distributional considerations we would be concerned with the distribution of consumption over time” (O’Neill, Holland, and Light 186). In that case, since it would be a social problem to recall all greenhouses where scores of people make their income from, governments can address the issue by determining the entities that could be allowed to manage greenhouses, their ability to employ members of the community and also their commitment to environmental protection for the purpose of conserving the environment for the future generations too. 

Works Cited

Mischna, Michael A., et al. “Effects of Obliquity and Water Vapor/Trace Gas Greenhouses in The Early Martian Climate.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, vol. 118, no. 3, 2013, pp. 560-576.

O’Neill, John, Alan Holland, and Andrew Light. Environmental Values. Routledge, 2008.

Samimi, Amir, and Soroush Zarinabadi. “Reduction of Greenhouse Gases Emission and Effect on The Environment.” Journal of American Science, vol. 8, no. 8, 2012, pp. 1011-1015.