Climate change is not punishment

Some people probably see climate change as some sort of divine revenge – a punishment for abusing nature, or violating some kind of religious obligation.

Ultimately, climate change has nothing to do with human wickedness, in and of itself. The fact that burning fossil fuels warms the climate dangerously is just an accidental property of nature that has nothing to do with human beings. Climate change is not punishment for developing technology or making money. It’s just one consequence of the laws of physics and chemistry, which do not care at all about human motivations or feelings of guilt or triumph.

That being said, now that we know about the harm we are causing by producing greenhouse gas pollution, we have an obligation to stop. The rules of the universe were not designed for human beings, but the ethical choices we face are affected by the reality of the outcomes that will arise from the different choices within our power. If we know that behaving in a certain way will cause grave and unnecessary harm to innocent members of future generations, we have an obligation to stop.

2 thoughts on “Climate change is not punishment

  1. coal reports

    I agree with everything you have said here.Most of us blames these power generated plans because they contribute damage to our environment.But not even thinking that we are using its product in everyday.Just like electricity,we need to power our home,lights,computers,to fuel our cars and all of other conveniences that most of us take for granted.I love reading your post.Keep it up!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *