R.S. Unit 8.2 Environmental and Medical Issues Flashcards
Why is global warming a problem?
- Temperature rising melts icecaps causing sea levels to rise
- Temperature increases causes new diseases
- Temperature increases causes extinctions
- Temperature increases causes fights over water during droughts
What are the causes of global warming?
- Increased usage of fossil fuels
- Natural processes, warmest times before human discovery of fossil fuels
- Solar activity, increased radiation
- Nature, volcanic emissions, animals, bacteria
What are the possible solutions to global warming?
- Green energy, producing electricity without using carbon dioxide, e.g solar power
- Car manufacturers use alternative fuels such as hydrogen to reduce/prevent carbon emissions
- Improve efficiency, reduce pollition in machines like cars
- Increased public transplant reduce carbon emissions
What types of pollution are there?
Acid rain - burning fossil fuels increase acidity of rain destroying buildings
Human Waste - Waste attracts rats spreading diseases
Eutrophication - Excess fertilisers increases aquatic plants, causing fish to die
Radioactive pollution - Nuclear waste can cause cancer, millions of years to decompose
What are the solutions to pollution:
Acid Rain - Use renewable sources in place of fossil fuels
Human Waste - Recycling and reusing waste
Eutrophication - Organic fertilisers, better sewage treatment
Radioactive pollution - 97% Waste reused, 3% successfully sealed away
Examples of renewable resources:
- Wind power, turbine
- Sugar cane, energy for cars
- Solar power, solar energy
- Fertile land, producing crops
Examples of finite resources:
- Oil, oil rigs
- Metals, copper, gold
- Natural gas
- Coal
What are the problems with finite natural resources?
- Running out
- Not enough left to use
- Increased standards of living
- Increasing amount being used
What are possible solutions to natural resources?
- Recycling increases lifetime of finite resources
- Chemicals from plants alternate solution plastic
- Renewable sources of electricity, e.g. solar
- Car manufacturers look to alternative fuels, e.g. sugar cane
Why Christians should be stewards of the Earth?
- Genesis, God instructs to look after Earth
- God cares so we should care (God’s creation)
- Golden rule, shows love for neighbour
- Judgement Day, judged on whether fulfilled duty
How beliefs about stewardship affect Christian actions:
- Reduce pollution to leave in better state than found
- Share resources fairly to improve quality of life of Less Economically Developed Countries
- To live a good Christian life, must be good steward to be good Christian
- Support conservation groups, know God will judge behaviour
What are Muslim beliefs on stewardship?
- All Muslims are God’s Khalifahs and as Khalifahs, look after the Earth for God (balance of creation)
- Follow set way of life in Qur’an and Shari’ah
- Day of Judgement, judged on stewardship
- Life is a test, fail will be punished
How do beliefs on stewardship affect Muslim actions:
- God’s Khalifahs, reduce pollution
- Shari’ah and ummah teaches to improve quality of life of Less Economically Developed Countries
- Khalifahs responsible to share in and support conservation groups
- Duty to preserve environment and keep unity and balance in creation as God intended
Types of infertility treatment:
- In-Vitro Fertilisation method of fertilising a human egg in a test tube
- Artificial Insemination injecting semen into the uterus by artificial means
- Embryo donation
- Surrogacy an arrangemen whereby a women bears a child on behalf of another women or where an egg is fertilised by the man through IVF and then implanted in the women’s uterus
Why are infertility treatments important?
- 12.5% couples in UK have infertility problems
- 1.5 million UK men have fertility problems
- Species survival
- Psycological problems without children (depression)
Catholic attitudes towards infertility treatments as wrong:
- In-Vitro Fertilisation uses lots of eggs, same as abortion
- Surrogacy involves masturbation, sin
- God’s plan not to have children
- Playing God
Other Christians attitudes towards infertility treatments for only In-Vitro Fertilisation and Artificial Insemination by Husband?:
- Children purpose of Christian marriage
- Biological offspring
- Prevents problems in marriage (unites couple)
Most Muslims accept In-Vitro Fertilisation and Artificial Insemination by Husband:
- Form of medicine to bring family life
- Biological offspring
- Discarded embryos are not foetuses, not taking a life
What are the two types of transplant surgery?
- Organs from the dead
- Organs from a living donor, e.g. one kidney
Why is transplant surgery important?
- Cures life threatening diseases
- People needing transplants rises by 8% per year
- Could save over 4000 lives each year if enough donors found
- Lets people help others after death
Why do most Christians agree with transplant surgery but not with the exploitation of the poor?
- Immorality of the soul therefore body not needed
- Resurrection, body transformed won’t need physical organs
- Jesus taught love neighbour, leaving organs
- Jesus’s Golden Rule
Why are some Christians opposed to using organs from dead people but accept organs donated from living relatives?
- Organs are an intrinsic part if an individual created by God
- Upsurping the role of God, humans have no right
- Used from living are not vital, obey love your neighbour
- Cannot be paid for, exploiting poor, banned in the Bible
Why do some Christians do not agree at all with transplant surgery?
- Disregard sanctity of life, let someone die to save someone else
- Upsurping God, wrong to play God
- Problem of when someone is dead, heart transplant needed before stopped beating
- Divert resources from prevention or less expensive cures that can help more people
Why do most Muslims oppose transplant surgery?
- Shari’ah teaches nothing removed after death
- Qur’an says God created, acting as God to tranfer organs which is acting as God, greatest sin in Islam
- Sanctity of life, belongs to God
- Need all body parts for resurrection
