Prospective ecologica
The role of foresight in the ecology and the environment.
By: Jefry R-Consultant
To unravel the role of the foresight in ecological and environmental sciences, is appropriate to define the concepts of foresight and ecology.
In attempting a definition of concepts of a science or discipline of knowledge, it is pertinent to note that the proposed definitions do not exhaust the essence, the meaning and significance of the term that seeks to define, indicating that the definition may serve other approaches the subject, but mainly to the objective set, once made this consideration, the following definitions are offered.
Ecology: Proposal 1. Ecology is the study of the relationship between living organisms and their environment or the distribution and abundance of living things, and how these properties are affected by the interaction between organisms and their environment. The environment includes the physical properties that can be described as the sum of local abiotic factors such as climate and geology, and other agencies that share that habitat (biotic factors). Proposal 2. It is the science that studies the intricate relationships between living organisms and their environment, determining how these complex relationships maintain the delicate balance of life.
Foresight. Proposal 1. According to Gaston Berger, foresight is a discipline that studies the future to understand and influence. Proposal 2. Foresight is distance learning, the refusal to maintain the mold and break it in that sense, to find the coordinates of the future, with the platform and engine will run with the players to build on the creative strategy and innovative, a desired future, trying with all and by all means make it more likely that other options for the future. (Rivas, 2005). Proposal 3. Foresight aims to build the future and anticipates the configuration of a desirable future, then that reflects on the future imagined this in order to better integration into the real situation, to act more effectively and to guide our future development towards that objectified as desirable ; foresight then proposed to the desirable future more likely than the other options for the future.
Previous generations left in our hands an environmental problem of major proportions, namely, the debt accrued environmental liabilities for many years (1) Environmental degradation: Depletion of the ozone layer, climate change (caused by humans), acid rain , illegal dumps are breeding grounds of different kinds of contamination and consequent diseases, (2) merciless exploitation of natural resources involving the disappearance of species with irreversible outcomes for the delicate ecological balance, substantial decrease in natural resources essential to the planet , putting in risk the continuity of life for future generations.
Amidst this scenario, the human being, reacted and began a haphazard way to design and implement measures that could compensate, mitigate, reduce and minimize impacts on the environment, undertaking a difficult task in technology fields, social and environmental. Since it was established products, processes, machinery, equipment and materials to remedy environmental problems involving dire ecological consequences. This should have a result at least close to the effectiveness, if, companies, individuals and states have understood these efforts only applicable to the solution of existing problems, ie to remedy the harm caused to the environment. However, progress in creating products, processes, materials, equipment and materials to solve environmental problems have been taken as carte blanche to continue polluting, damaging the environment and ruthlessly plundering of natural resources under the pretext of that can possibly help it, compensate or mitigate.
Regarding this, we must identify the attitudes that humans adopt to different situations.
Passivity: The attitude of the ostrich is to give up seeing the world as it is until the effects come and wreak havoc without being able to do almost anything.
Reactivity: This is to wait for the disaster or things happen to address them. This is a risky attitude. It's like putting out fires. It is the work done by the offices of disaster response in countries. On the environmental front we have no alternative than to take actions to repair and / or mitigate the damage, we know that the impacts are disastrous and often no further action would balance things, the reason that the effects may be irreversible. Irreversibility is the major driving force of business environment, there is nothing that demands more coherent action in the present to know that the environmental ills may be irreversible.
Pre-activated: In this approach envisions humans (provide) what's coming and prepare for that, looking forward actions for when the situation, the impact is minimal.
Proactivity: This attitude humans, is active in the future, he expects the situation, but through the action seeks to change the course of things put to them, or make them different, it is likely anticipating the future and build a state of affairs that allows her to control the game rules. It is the attitude of anticipation of threats and opportunities that are advertised on the horizon in order to correct the path without abandoning the course. In addition to preparing to minimize the impact on humans proactive action seeks placed in a position from which it has a chance to maneuver and not be surprised. It is causing the changes, not only prepared to face them.
Amid this backdrop, there was great concern in many scientific circles, academics and state, in the sense that the twenty-first century environmental action is strongly influenced by a reactive. In this respect James Hansen, director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies and a notorious NASA climate expert said that "the emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere have already reached a dangerous level" (El Tiempo, 11 April 2008, Page 1 -19), Hassen argued that "not more demanding targets to combat climate change, established by the European Union are sufficient, and in fact will fail to avert disaster.
This speaks of an attitude that is barely sufficient to be reactive, action to contain climate change barely placed in the reactivity to resolve some passive, some sagas, a degraded environment inherited from previous generations in this regard How deal with the impact Environmental recent years, the present and the future if we are just easing what we inherited from previous centuries?.
Hassen continues: "respond to current estimates of economic policy outlines the major powers, and that to avoid a planetary catastrophe is a need for much more radical measures" Hassen "refers to when he says much more radical measures?, Would referring to actions and proactive proactive, maybe Paul Gunter style, with its zero emissions initiative? becomes relevant here that foresight, as the fundamental solution to the environment, not to solve the problems inherited by future generations, but go beyond, it is necessary to run the second mile, he told about Jesus of Nazareth. We need to focus on the solution go to the cause of the problem and act in a manner that instead of remedying, to move to a dimension in which takes the minimum emission level hopefully to zero. This is only possible if vision than reactive and passed to a more consistent with "our common future", to use the words of Mrs. Gro Harlem Brundtland.
Foresight tells us we can build from this the world we live where we and our future generations an environment as possible, a suitable environment, a state of things harmonious and friendly relations with nature, for it must be eminently ecology prospectively. There is no guarantee that the delicate natural balance is maintained at less than take a proactive attitude. Foresight comes then to be, an auxiliary discipline of ecology, the ecology can not sustain the delicate balance of life unless prospective exercises are incorporated into development planning global, national and local levels., The attitude of many industries that believe they have solved the environmental problem by paying for pollution, is not consistent with our current reality.
The fines for polluting are tools often late, because when a species becomes extinct, we lose a life, people die, and irreversible degree affects an ecosystem, and there is no money worth, no subsequent action to be effective .
It is necessary to do violence to the connotation it has acquired the principle that the polluter should pay, because this has been understood as: "You can contaminate, if you pay", it is necessary to reformulate the principle in its implementation and that from now on will say "I can not pay the costs of polluting," then you better not pollute. That the cost of pollution exceeds the profits obtained by it and this not only because costs are defined economically supremely high, but because they involve social costs and ecological effects that can have unforeseen consequences and irreversible and irreparable results .
In this sense, foresight us towards those coordinates in which future routes find plausible that the attitudes of individuals, businesses and state focus to activities, processes, products and services that do not pollute, to avoid remedy in the future, and that in any case, continue with the remediation of damage that has already been done, that was the spirit of Principle 16 of Agenda 21, Rio Declaration, and explained should read: "Those that have been contaminated should pay. " However, it should be taken to avoid subsequent acts of pollution, degradation and deterioration, this presupposes a long-range effort which goes beyond the analysis of this and stands at specific considerations of the future, not to carry them out there, but to implement actions today in an attempt to produce a state different things.
Under present conditions the human being, with all its machinery and infrastructure that puts his hand (human action) it degrades and pollutes, today we move the powers of the soul, the will of development actors, and the vanguard of science, so that in the coming years everything we touch but does not become green immediately, at least to start greening. Today more than yesterday is necessary to develop a prospective ecological / environmental.
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