Green perspectives

Chapter 14: Green Perspectives Michael Cahill •The environmental damage produced by our economic system is all too plain to see in oil spills, greenhouse gases, loss of the rain forests, traffic pollution and many other consequences of the industrial way of life. •Widespread loss of life is predicted in the coming decades as global warming leads to changed weather patterns. The human cost is already manifesting across the globe as drought, hurricanes and flooding has produce hundreds of thousands of ‘environmental refugees’. •Over the last quarter of the twentieth century concern for the environment has moved from the province of small, uninfluential pressure groups to the agenda of the world’s leading nations. •There are many varieties of green thought but they are all united in their belief that the environment should take priority in social and political discussion. •Climate change is persuading governments around the world to take environmental issues much more seriously than they have in the past.