About this title - Geoethics: Status and Future Perspectives

10.1144/sp508 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 508 (1) ◽  
pp. NP-NP
Author(s):  
G. Di Capua ◽  
P. T. Bobrowsky ◽  
S. W. Kieffer ◽  
C. Palinkas
Keyword(s):  
Common Ground ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Ethical Framework ◽  
Global Ethics ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Anthropogenic Changes ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Cultural Implications ◽  
Significant Step ◽  
Additional Service

This is the second volume focused on geoethics published by the Geological Society of London. This is a significant step forward in which authors address the maturation of geoethics. The field of geoethics is now ready to be introduced outside the geoscience community as a logical platform for global ethics that addresses anthropogenic changes. Geoethics has a distinction in the geoscientific community for discussing ethical, social and cultural implications of geoscience knowledge, research, practice, education and communication. This provides a common ground for confronting ideas, experiences and proposals on how geosciences can supply additional service to society in order to improve the way humans interact responsibly with the Earth system. This book provides new messages to geoscientists, social scientists, intellectuals, law- and decision-makers, and laypeople. Motivations and actions for facing global anthropogenic changes and their intense impacts on the planet need to be governed by an ethical framework capable of merging a solid conceptual structure with pragmatic approaches based on geoscientific knowledge. This philosophy defines geoethics.

scholarly journals Applied science facilitates the large-scale expansion of protected areas in an Amazonian hot spot

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (31) ◽  
pp. eabe2998
Author(s):  
Nigel C.A. Pitman ◽  
Corine F. Vriesendorp ◽  
Diana Alvira Reyes ◽  
Debra K. Moskovits ◽  
Nicholas Kotlinski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Hot Spot ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
International Commitments

Meeting international commitments to protect 17% of terrestrial ecosystems worldwide will require >3 million square kilometers of new protected areas and strategies to create those areas in a way that respects local communities and land use. In 2000–2016, biological and social scientists worked to increase the protected proportion of Peru’s largest department via 14 interdisciplinary inventories covering >9 million hectares of this megadiverse corner of the Amazon basin. In each landscape, the strategy was the same: convene diverse partners, identify biological and sociocultural assets, document residents’ use of natural resources, and tailor the findings to the needs of decision-makers. Nine of the 14 landscapes have since been protected (5.7 million hectares of new protected areas), contributing to a quadrupling of conservation coverage in Loreto (from 6 to 23%). We outline the methods and enabling conditions most crucial for successfully applying similar campaigns elsewhere on Earth.

scholarly journals Humanitarian Communication Through the Lens of Feminist Ethics of Care

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-36
Author(s):  
Houda Houbeish
Keyword(s):  
Common Ground ◽  
Ethics Of Care ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Ethical Principles ◽  
Ethical Framework ◽  
Feminist Ethics ◽  
Role Morality ◽  
Humanitarian Ethics ◽  
The Common

Ethics are the driving force of the humanitarian field, a domain that has been governed by general and universal ethical principles. Researchers have largely focused on studying the organizational commitment to these principles, paying less attention to the role-specific ethics of this field. Moreover, researchers who consider the humanitarian field from a media studies lens have often focused on media representation, while questions about communication as practice are sidelined. In this paper, I approach humanitarian ethics with a particular focus on role morality and communication practices. With a particular focus on the role of a humanitarian communications specialist, I argue, in this paper, that the feminist ethics of care is a useful ethical framework that can guide communication specialists to better practices when they are in the field of operation. I also answer the following research questions: What are the main ethical principles that humanitarian communication specialists are expected to observe as humanitarians? Why are these principles insufficient? How might feminist ethics of care fill the gap left by current humanitarian principles and what would be the added value of this framework for practicing humanitarian communication? To answer, I ground my approach in an experiential understanding built from my personal experience as a humanitarian communications specialist. Second, I offer a literature review to highlight the common ground between humanitarian ethics and the feminist ethics of care and the added value of the feminist ethics of care why applied by humanitarian communication specialists. Third, I provide some examples of communications practices that may follow the feminist ethics of care model.  

Using Neuroimaging to Detect Covert Awareness and Determine Prognosis of Comatose Patients: Informing Surrogate Decision Makers of Individual Patient Results

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (05) ◽  
pp. 555-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mackenzie Graham ◽  
Colin Doherty ◽  
Lorina Naci
Keyword(s):  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Recovery Of Function ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Ethical Framework ◽  
Prognostic Indicators ◽  
Ethical Guidelines ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Surrogate Decision Makers ◽  
Surrogate Decision ◽  
Patient Prognosis

AbstractRobust prognostic indicators of neurological recovery are urgently needed for acutely comatose patients. Functional neuroimaging is a highly sensitive tool for uncovering covert cognition and awareness in behaviorally nonresponsive patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness, and may be applicable to acutely comatose patients. Establishing a link between early detection of covert awareness in acutely comatose patients and eventual recovery of function could have significant implications for patient prognosis, treatment, and end-of-life decisions. Because functional neuroimaging of acutely comatose patients is currently limited to the research context, ethical guidelines for disseminating a patient's individual research results to clinical teams and surrogate decision makers are needed. We propose an ethical framework composed of four conditions that can guide ethical disclosure of individual results of neuroimaging research in the acute care context.

Geoethics as global ethics to face grand challenges for humanity

2020 ◽  
pp. SP508-2020-146
Author(s):  
Silvia Peppoloni ◽  
Giuseppe Di Capua
Keyword(s):  
Professional Ethics ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Global Ethics ◽  
Reference Framework ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Sharing Values ◽  
Ocean Mining ◽  
Theoretical Foundations

AbstractGeoethics is not simply professional ethics. Originally, it was developed in the context of geosciences to increase the awareness of geoscientists to their cultural and social role, but over time expanded to define a way in which humans can rethink their relationship with the Earth system in the light of principles and values that can provide a healthy and safe life in respect for geo-ecosystems. The theoretical framework of geoethics has now consolidated, and it has become the proposal on which to base a global ethics for the new millennium. This chapter outlines the scientific and cultural reference framework in which geoethics developed; the theoretical foundations of geoethics and its main characteristics; global anthropogenic issues under a geoethical perspective; ethical and social aspects related to two potential human activities respectively to combat global warming (geoengineering); and to provide for the growing demand for georesources (deep-sea/ocean mining). The authors highlight the importance of sharing values and actions among planetary human communities to manage global changes and threats. One wonders if the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic can suggest or confirm reflections on geoethical thinking. Finally, a charter for a responsible course of human development, articulated in nine principles and actions, is proposed.

The Anthropocene’s dating problem: Insights from the geosciences and the humanities

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Nichols ◽  
Bina Gogineni
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Geologic Record ◽  
Earth’S System

The Anthropocene, generally defined, is the time when human activities have a significant impact on the Earth System. However, the natural sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences have different understandings of how and when human activities affected the Earth System. Humanities and social science scholars tend to approach the Anthropocene from a wide range of moral-political concerns including differential responsibility for the change in the Earth System and social implications going forward. Geologists, on the other hand, see their work as uninfluenced by such considerations, instead concerning themselves with empirical data that might point to a ‘golden spike’ in the geologic record – the spike indicating a change in the Earth System. Thus, the natural sciences and the humanities/social sciences are incongruent in two important ways: (1) different motivations for establishing a new geologic era, and (2) different parameters for identifying it. The Anthropocene discussions have already hinted at a paradigm shift in how to define geologic time periods. Several articles suggest a mid-20th century commencement of the Anthropocene based on stratigraphic relationships identified in concert with knowledge of human history. While some geologists in the Anthropocene Working Group have stated that the official category should be useful well beyond geology, they continue to be guided by the stratigraphic conventions of defining the epoch. However, the methods and motivations that govern stratigraphers are different from those that govern humanists and social scientists. An Anthropocene defined by stratigraphic convention would supersede many of the humanities/social science perspectives that perhaps matter more to mitigating and adapting to the effects of humans on Earth’s System. By this reasoning, the impetus for defining the Anthropocene ought to be interdisciplinary, as traditional geologic criteria for defining the temporal scale might not meet the aspirations of a broad range of Anthropocene thinkers.

Reaching out from Earth to the stars

2020 ◽  
pp. SP508-2020-16
Author(s):  
Margaret R. McLean
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Framework ◽  
Human Race ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Stephen Hawking ◽  
Ethical Thinking

AbstractOver a decade ago, Stephen Hawking cautioned, ‘I don't think that the human race will survive the next thousand years unless we spread into space. There are too many accidents that befall life on a single planet. But I'm an optimist. We will reach out to the stars’ (in Highfield 2001, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/01/stephenhawking-dangerous-time-planet-inequality). With plans afoot to pack our bags for life on the red planet in the 2030s, we should expand our ethical thinking from the Earth deep into space. This chapter proposes the development of a set of reasoning tools in the form of principles and virtue to guide scientists, the public and policy-makers in creating an ethical framework to steer and constrain our reaching out from Earth to the stars.

scholarly journals Stoic Theology: Revealing or Redundant?

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Whiting ◽  
Leonidas Konstantakos
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Ethical Framework ◽  
Scientific Thinking ◽  
Environmental Challenges ◽  
The Earth

With the notion of advancing a modern Stoic environmental ethical framework, we explore the philosophy’s call to “living according to Nature”, as derived from ancient Stoic theology. We do this by evaluating the orthodox (ancient) viewpoint and the contemporary criticisms levelled against it. We reflect on the atheistic interpretations of Stoicism and their associated call to “live according to the facts”. We consider the limitations that this call has when applied to societal, and particularly non-human matters. We do not undertake this research with the aim of determining which view of Stoic theology is right or wrong. However, we contest one of the assumptions of the heterodox approach, namely that the Stoic worldview is incompatible with modern scientific thinking. Indeed, we demonstrate how Stoic theology, far from being outdated or irrelevant, is actually refreshingly contemporary in that it provides the tools, scope and urgency with which to deliver a far more considerate ethical framework for the 21st century. Finally, we suggest where Stoic theology can help practitioners to reframe and respond to environmental challenges, which we argue forms part of their cosmopolitan obligation to take care of themselves, others and the Earth as a whole.

Paleoclimate science for the 21st century: a wishlist

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim M. Cobb
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Climate Trends ◽  
Multi Scale ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
Paleoclimate Records ◽  
Paleoclimate Data

<p>The study of past climate trends, variability, and extremes has yielded unique insights into Earth’s changing climate, yet paleoclimate science must overcome a number of key challenges to maximize its utility in a century defined by accelerating climate change. First, the paleoclimate archive itself is at grave risk, given that i) many records end in the late 20<sup>th</sup> century, and no concerted efforts exist to extend them to the present-day, and ii) many paleoclimate archives are disappearing under continued climate change and other forms of human disturbance. Second, many paleoclimate records are comprised of oxygen isotopes, yet the coordinated, multi-scale observational and modeling infrastructures required to unravel the mechanisms governing water isotope variability are as yet underdeveloped. Lastly, in part owing to the aforementioned deficiencies, paleoclimate data assimilation efforts remain fraught with large uncertainties, despite their promise in constraining many aspects of future climate impacts, including extreme events and hydrological trends and variability. Paleoclimate science for the 21<sup>st</sup> century requires deep investments in the full integration of paleoclimate data and approaches into frameworks for climate risk and hazard assessments. In that sense, paleoclimate scientists will continue to play a key role in the communication of climate change science to key stakeholders, including the general public. Their understanding of the Earth system also equips them to contribute valuable insights to teams comprised of researchers, practitioners, and  decision-makers charged with leveraging science to inform solutions, in service to society.</p>

scholarly journals A view from data science

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 205395172110401
Author(s):  
Anna Sapienza ◽  
Sune Lehmann
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Data Science ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Science Data ◽  
Social Scientists

For better and worse, our world has been transformed by Big Data. To understand digital traces generated by individuals, we need to design multidisciplinary approaches that combine social and data science. Data and social scientists face the challenge of effectively building upon each other’s approaches to overcome the limitations inherent in each side. Here, we offer a “data science perspective” on the challenges that arise when working to establish this interdisciplinary environment. We discuss how we perceive the differences and commonalities of the questions we ask to understand digital behaviors (including how we answer them), and how our methods may complement each other. Finally, we describe what a path toward common ground between these fields looks like when viewed from data science.

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