Ethics of Climate Change

Introduction; I. Under the Weather; 1. A brief history of the climate; 2. Greenhouse gasses and climate change; 3. Climate modeling; 4. Predictions; II. The Weight of the World; 5. Morality, context, and the scope of the problem; 6. Responsibility for the past; 7. Responsibility for the present; 8. Responsibility for the future; III. Global Responses; 9. Refusing to act; 10. Adaptation; 11. The Kyoto Protocol; 12. Kinds of allocation; IV. Individual Responses; 13. Individual responsibilities and climate change; 14. Group action; Appendix: Carbon calculation; Appendix: Suggestions for reducing individual carbon emissions; Epilogue.

James Garvey is Secretary of the Royal Institute of Philosophy and author of The Twenty Greatest Philosophy Books (Continuum, 2006).

"In this outstanding book, Garvey (Royal Institute of Philosophy, UK) takes a position on global warming that is fair-minded and supported by compelling reasons. In the first chapter he argues that global warming is occurring, that human activities have contributed significantly to this process, that it will have detrimental effects on people, and that the evidence for all this is largely beyond question within the scientific community. The remainder of the book makes a case for the claim that both individuals and nations, particularly economically privileged ones, have a moral obligation to ameliorate this situation. Garvey offers an excellent discussion of general moral issues such as responsibility, justice, and choice and their relation to global warming. He also presents a forceful rebuttal of the views that ethics is irrelevant and "merely" subjective. The concluding chapters propose concrete practices and policies that are morally required in response to global warming. Garvey's arguments are clear and unencumbered with jargon...this book will be extremely helpful to anyone who wants a lively introduction to this topic. Summing Up: Highly Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers; general readers." -M.A. Michael, CHOICE, November 2008