Having Children In A Time Of Climate Change

Should We Be Having Kids In The Age Of Climate Change?

Jennifer Ludden, August 18, 2016 (National Public Radio)

Editor’s note: This is a deeply thoughtful piece worth taking a full-length look at.

…[Because of climate change, philosopher Travis Rieder of the Johns Hopkins University Berman Institute of Bioethics is suggesting to college students that they think hard about having children, about how many they should have, and about adoption because they have] a moral duty to future generations that will live amid the climate devastation being created now…[His wide Sadiye] wanted a big family…But by the time Sadiye began feeling ready for motherhood, Travis' research had delved into the morality of adoption, which led to the ethics of procreation and to its impact on the climate…By midcentury, possibly before, the average global temperature is projected to rise by more than 2 degrees Celsius, the point scientists and world leaders agree would trigger cataclysmic consequences. Last year's historic Paris climate agreement falls short of preventing that…Adding to that challenge, the world is expected to add several billion people in the next few decades…[Without dramatic action], the world is on track to hit 4 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the century, and worse beyond that…[But can you actually expect people to forgo something as deeply personal as having children? To deny the biological imperative that's driven civilization? …” click here for more

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