Synonyms
Animal welfare; Ethics of nature; Sustainability; Values in science
Introduction
Humans live in constant interaction with nature. That is part and parcel of being a biological creature on this planet. On one hand, humans exploit the available resources to survive, and at the same time, humans are deeply dependent on the continued capacity of nature to sustain their lives and the lives of their children and future generations. But something has changed over the past 50 years: Never before in human history have so many animal and plant species been made extinct so fast – in the last few hundred years about 1,000 times as much as in the planet’s history – and 10–30 % of mammal, bird, and amphibian species are currently threatened with extinction; freshwater ecosystems are particularly at risk. Never before has humankind been so destructive and exploitative in relation to ecosystems and vital resources as now. Just as an example, in the last decades of the twentieth century, about...
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Gjerris, M., Vaarst, M. (2014). Agricultural Science and Ethics. In: Thompson, P.B., Kaplan, D.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0929-4_257
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0929-4_257
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