Teresa Liang

Professor Stedman

NTRES 2201

6 October 2017

The Penetrating Effects of Climate Change

With a cursory glance at the news, there is no escape from the ubiquitous environmental

problem headlines that seem to crowd the news stories. These stories almost always address the

imminent and pressing consequences of climate change and other environmental problems.

These implications, especially in the past few years, seem to be growing at an exponential rate.

While most people address the scientific concerns in relation to environmental problems, I

believe that major problems like climate change also stem heavily from the social and ethical

reasons. From the unprecedented Hurricane Irma to the fatal smog invading Chinese cities,

climate change is no longer a question of environmental concern, but rather a phenomenon with

a global impact on our society.

As referred to by Aldo Leopold in the book A Sand County Almanac, in order to view

problems in a comprehensive way, the three ways to approach environmental problems include

ecology, ethics, and aesthetics. Ecologically, we are in an environmental crisis. The average

global temperature is rising at an exponential rate, and although we have previously set global

temperature targets to 2 degrees Celsius by 2020 at the Paris Climate Summit, COP21, we are

already at a rise of 1.5 degrees. There are many people who are optimistic about this target,

however, as it was proposed while taking into account “the differentiation and responsibility of

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developing countries, and their respective capacities in light of national circumstances.”1 With

the increasing need for the awareness of climate change, and overall environmental knowledge,

environmental education also plays a large role in subsiding the effects of climate change.

According to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, 40% of adults in the world

have not heard of climate change, and the number rises to about 65% in developing countries

such as Egypt, Bangladesh, and India.2 This stunning fact reveals the lack of knowledge about

environmental effects, and should lead to a call to action for an increase in environmental

education. In accordance to David W. Orr’s argument on Ecological Literacy, there is a strong

need for the awareness of the environmental impacts of climate change. Not only is it important

for environmental education to be taught in the classroom, it is also a moral responsibility for the

new generation to experience the environment. It is only when people are exposed to nature in its

truest form, and truly become a part of and see the beauty and the unparalleled nature of our

natural resources will everyone begin to cherish and unite in working towards solutions for

environmental problems such as climate change.

From an ethical perspective, these environmental problems are causing irreversible social

impacts that bring out the ethical side of global climate change. This past year, on my annual trip

to China, I volunteered at Shepherd’s Field Children’s Village, an orphanage for disabled

children. During my stay, I noticed some problems that were not prevalent to the area on my

1
Ananthakrishnan, G. “Climate Agreement Proposes a Binding 2°C Target.” The Hindu, 12 Dec. 2015,
www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/cop21-climate-change-conference-in-paris-climate-
agreement-proposes-a-binding-2-degrees-c-target/article10129366.ece.

2 Howe, Peter, and Anthony Leiserowitz . “Climate Change Awareness and Concern in 119 Countries.” Yale
Program on Climate Change Communication, 27 July 2015,
climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/analysis-of-a-119-country-survey-predicts-global-climate-
change-awareness/.

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previous visits. A small yet significant difference was the lack of fresh produce in the

supermarkets, which is causing the surge in produce prices. Due to climate change, unexpected

rain and heatwaves are jeopardizing the quality and production of local farmers’ crops. This is

causing difficulties not only in the lives of the people in China, but also in funding organizations

such as the orphanage, as it needs to provide healthy and wholesome meals to over eighty

children and staff. This is not only devastating to the health of the children there, but is also

challenging to the orphanage’s limited financial support. Without this orphanage, the children

would not receive the medical attention they need. Having grown up in China, it is difficult to

see the dire effects of these environmental challenges on the people there, especially the children

at Shepherd’s Field. In an attempt to ameliorate the effects of the increasingly prominent smog

on the children’s health, the orphanage installed ventilation systems in each of the houses the

children live in. The cost of this system delayed the orphanage’s plan of building a new

greenhouse, which would have provided them sustainable, organic produce four years ago.

Although I was able to contribute to the building of the aquaponic greenhouse, which allows for

a sustainable way of producing fresh crops, the money for the greenhouse and the ventilation

could have been spent on the children’s medical needs if not for the toxic smog invading China

had the environmental problems not been at life threatening conditions.

Aesthetically, the environment has brought out a significant degree of change to our

environment that can be spotted visually. The glaciers, for example, has shown to recede as a

worldwide phenomenon. The images depicted in NASA’s Images of Change show the incredible

difference between the glaciers at Lake Greve3 in 1986 and the same glaciers 30 years later, in

3
“Climate Change: Images of Change: As Glaciers Recede Worldwide, One Defies Trend.”NASA, NASA,
climate.nasa.gov/images-of-change?id=617#617-as-glaciers-recede-worldwide-one-defies-trend.

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2016. The area what was once covered with white ice caps and glaciers now looks to only remain

a third of the original, and many of the glaciers look to be smaller, as well as in the process of

melting. Similarly, the Kaskawulsh Glaciers4 that have melted show to have significant effects

on the downstream ecosystems, as it alters the composition with the increase in melted glacier

water.

Due to these environmental changes caused by climate change, the aesthetic value

associated with the environment may be shifting due to these significant changes, which relates

to the concept of cognitive hierarchy in our class discussions. In a talk given by Emily Brady,

from the International Society for Philosophy of Architecture, she brings about the relations

between aesthetic value, ethics, and climate change, and addresses the complex issues that

climate change brings at the intersection of aesthetics and ethics. She states that as climate

change alters our environment, our values of the environment changes with the changing

aesthetic value of landscapes that are affected by climate change5. Along with that idea, she

bring up the thought that could landscapes after the effects of climate change be considered as

beautiful and bring as much awe to our visual palette as the naturally occurring landscapes

before its seen the effects of climate change? Both now and into the future, because climate

change is seen and is a form of environmental harm, this may alter and negatively affect our

perception of environmental landscapes, animal species, and everything else in natural world that

may be affected by climate change and other environmental problems. This concept brings to

4“
Climate Change: Images of Change: Kaskawulsh Glacier Meltwater Alters Downstream
Ecosystems.” NASA, NASA, climate.nasa.gov/images-of-change?id=616#616-kaskawulsh-glacier-meltwater-
alters-downstream-ecosystems.
5
Brady, E. (2012) Aesthetic Value, Ethics, and Climate Change, International Society for the Philosophy of
Architecture, [blog] 01 Dec 2012, https://isparchitecture.wordpress.com

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mind the concept of cognitive hierarchy that we brought up in class, as it is a way of altering the

way people think about the environment aesthetically. The changing aesthetic values directly

relate to cognitive hierarchy, which breaks down the cognitive belief system in to a vertical

hierarchy of values at the base, then beliefs and cognitions, then evaluative beliefs, then attitudes.

The hierarchy also follows horizontally as it progresses by attitude. The values would be the

most fundamental aspect of the cognitive hierarchy, making it the most difficult to change as it

emerges from social processes. I think it would be difficult for our environmental aesthetic

values to change, and instead climate change would be altering our beliefs and cognitions.

Because these are usually several beliefs that make up our attitudes, climate change may alter

one or some of our beliefs and our perceptions of the aesthetic of the environment, which in turn

may slightly change our overall attitude on the visual value of the environment. Changes in the

environment may also alter our evaluative beliefs, as the more beliefs there are, the harder it is to

change our attitudes. The basis of the cognitive hierarchy is built on our beliefs, and moves

horizontally as our attitudes build up, and these attitudes may also contribute to the changing

aesthetic due to the changes in the environment.

Overall, due to the increasing effects of climate change, there are a number effects that

the changes in the environment bring to our society beyond pure environmental impacts.

Ethically and aesthetically, our environmental values are shifted by the rising temperatures, from

effects to children in China from the smog, to shifts in our aesthetic values as the appearance of

the environmental changes become integrated as a permanent part of our perception of nature.

The ice caps and glaciers in Lake Greve, for example, is an outstanding example of the effects of