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Environmental ethics is the part of environmental philosophy which considers extending the traditional boundaries of ethics from solely including humans to including the non-human world. It exerts influence on a large range of disciplines including environmental law, environmental sociology, ecotheology, ecological economics, ecology and environmental geography. There are many ethical decisions that human beings make with respect to the environment. For example: *Should we continue to clear cut forests for the sake of human consumption? *Why should we continue to propagate our species, and life itself? *Should we continue to make gasoline powered vehicles? *What environmental obligations do we need to keep for future generations?〔(Climate change victims estimated at millions in the near future, according to Christian Aid )〕〔(150,000 people killed already by climate change )〕 *Is it right for humans to knowingly cause the extinction of a species for the convenience of humanity? *How should we best use and conserve the space environment to secure and expand life? The academic field of environmental ethics grew up in response to the work of scientists such as Rachel Carson and events such as the first Earth Day in 1970, when environmentalists started urging philosophers to consider the philosophical aspects of environmental problems. Two papers published in ''Science'' had a crucial impact: Lynn White's "The Historical Roots of our Ecologic Crisis" (March 1967) and Garrett Hardin's "The Tragedy of the Commons" (December 1968). Also influential was Garett Hardin's later essay called "Exploring New Ethics for Survival", as well as an essay by Aldo Leopold in his ''A Sand County Almanac'', called "The Land Ethic," in which Leopold explicitly claimed that the roots of the ecological crisis were philosophical (1949). The first international academic journals in this field emerged from North America in the late 1970s and early 1980s – the US-based journal ''Environmental Ethics'' in 1979 and the Canadian-based journal ''The Trumpeter: Journal of Ecosophy'' in 1983. The first British based journal of this kind, ''Environmental Values'', was launched in 1992. == Marshall's categories of environmental ethics == Some scholars have tried to categorise the various ways the natural environment is valued. Alan Marshall and Michael Smith are two examples of this, as cited by Peter Vardy in "The Puzzle of Ethics".〔Peter Vardy, Paul Grosch: The Puzzle of Ethics. New York: Harper Collins 1999.〕 According to Marshall, three general ethical approaches have emerged over the last 40 years: Libertarian Extension, the Ecologic Extension and Conservation Ethics. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Environmental ethics」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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