• CON

    First world countries do not have the moral obligation to...

    First World countries have the moral obligation to mitigate the effects of climate change

    First world countries do not have the moral obligation to mitigate the effects of climate change.

  • CON

    Taking action against climate change includes economic...

    Governments need to take radical action to combat climate change

    Taking action against climate change includes economic regulation.

  • PRO

    The impact is clear. ... Thanks and please vote for the...

    Developed Countries have a moral obligation to mitigate the effects of climate change

    AFF- I want to thank the oppoent for their time Honorable Judges Resolved: Developed countries have a moral obligation to mitigate the effects of climate change. Definitions First, we offer the CIA World Factbook's definition of "developed countries," which includes just over thirty nations that are generally first-world and feature service-oriented economies. Standard- The standard of today’s debate, or weighing mechanism, should be deontology. Since this topic is about moral obligations and deontology is about the morality of actions and its justification, we believe that the team that adheres to this standard should win this debate. 1. Adaptation Adapting is the correct way to go in the process of mitigating. Since today’s topic is about mitigating the effects of climate change, and not mitigating climate change, as the affirmative team, it is our ground to be able to “adapt” to the effects of climate change. According to epa.gov, some of the effects of climate change are that heavy rainfall or flooding can increase water-borne parasites that are sometimes found in drinking water. These parasites can cause, in severe cases, death. One instance to mitigating the effects of climate change includes vaccinating, which is cheap and extremely effective. According to givewell.org, it costs only $14 to vaccinate a child, and The UNICEF states that 9 million lives are saved from vaccines annually. The impact is clear. It would be better to adapt to the effects of climate change. One of the effects is disease, and if we can save all these people from disease by administering vaccines, for a small price of $14 per child, we should win this debate. 2. Moral Obligation Developed countries have the obligation to fix the mess that they created. After all, it is the developed country’s fault, and they should fix it. The United states is making nearly 5,500 million tonnes CO2 emissions (Guardian). Developed Countries should also have the moral obligation to not contribute to campaigns that kill human beings. For example, terrorism: It is oil money that enables Saudi Arabia [and many other countries] to invest approximately 40% of its income on weapons procurement. In July 2005 undersecretary of the Treasury, Stuart Levey, testifying in the Senate noted “Wealthy Saudi financiers and charities have funded terrorist organizations and causes that support terrorism and the ideology that fuels the terrorists' agenda. Even today, we believe that Saudi donors may still be a significant source of terrorist financing." - Institute for the Analysis of Global security. Over 12,000 people were killed by terrorist attacks in 2011- according to the National Counter Terrorism Center Judge, what this means is that many patrons of terrorism happen to be oil and gasoline investors. If we buy gasoline, these supporters of terrorism would earn money, and stuff their profits into supporting terrorist groups, leading to deaths inside our own country and other places around the world. But if we switch to green energy, we would significantly decrease the profits of these terrorism supporters, and as a result, save many lives. The Impact is clear. Countries have the moral obligation to solve the problems that they have created, and also to try and save the lives of their own citizens from acts like terrorism, by trying to mitigate the effects of climate change. 3. The Environment Climate Change causes the environment to be affected. All the more reason for countries to mitigate its effects. According to Nasa, Approximately 20-30% of plant and animal species are likely to be at increased risk of extinction if increases in global average temperature exceeds 1.5-2.5°C. We need to get prepared for four degrees of global warming, Bob Watson [PhD in Chemistry, Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility] told the Guardian last month.Weather would become extreme and unpredictable, with more frequent and severe droughts, floods and hurricanes. The Earth's carrying capacity would be hugely reduced. Billions would undoubtedly die. The Impact is that if the Earth’s temperatures rises just the slightest amount, millions might die! We must mitigate these effects before it is too late. Thanks and please vote for the Aff/Pro

  • PRO

    Just curious as to see what your argument will be! ......

    Climate Change is real and caused by humans

    Just curious as to see what your argument will be! Looking forward to it. But just to clarify, I'm talking about the rising of global temperatures caused by increased CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere leading to the greenhouse effect. Good luck!

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/Climate-Change-is-real-and-caused-by-humans/3/
  • CON

    This debate is already going on here. ......

    Climate Change is real and caused by humans

    This debate is already going on here. (http://www.debate.org...) Please don't vote.

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/Climate-Change-is-real-and-caused-by-humans/3/
  • CON

    All points extended.

    Climate Change is real and caused by humans

    All points extended.

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/Climate-Change-is-real-and-caused-by-humans/3/
  • CON

    All points extended.

    Climate Change is real and caused by humans

    All points extended.

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/Climate-Change-is-real-and-caused-by-humans/3/
  • PRO

    I will take the pro side. ... Second round is...

    Climate Shift

    Resolved: Climate Shift is real; Climate shift is primarily influenced by man; Climate shift ought to be a legitimate concern of those who care about the future of humanity. I will take the pro side. The BOP lies on both sides. First round is acceptance only. Second round is construction only.

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/Climate-Shift/3/
  • PRO

    I will take the pro side. ... I'm looking for someone to...

    Climate Shift

    Resolved: Climate Shift is real; Climate shift is influenced by man; Climate shift ought to be a legitimate concern of those who care about the future of humanity. I will take the pro side. The BOP lies on both sides. First round is acceptance only. Second round is construction only. No new arguments may be made in the final round. No new rebuttals may be made in the final round. I'm looking for someone to legitimately and intellectually debate this subject.

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/Climate-Shift/2/
  • CON

    2) Global warming is man made. ... I trust the voters...

    Climate Shift

    Pro has accused me of insulting him, I have done no such thing. Quite the opposite has been demonstrated by pro. Twice he has made comments focused on my person and not the argument at hand. "What a surprisingly short response" "What a rude and poorly thought response" Perhaps I should not have accepted this debate, but after seeing how Pro had attempted to set up a "slam dunk" format that included 2 out of 3 points that are impossible to argue against. 1) global warming is real. I reiterate that the FACT we do not currently live on a frozen planet is impossible to argue against. The FACT that ice age specialized species such as the wooly mammoth are now extinct because the ice age has ended can NOT be argued against. Pro's first point does not actually require intellectual debate. 2) Global warming is man made. This is the only point that Pro made that can actually be argued. As I've already argued, Pro's argument here was based on cherry picking statistics. His claim that 97% of climate scientists agree that global warming is caused by man was admitted to be a misrepresentation of the statistics by the original author of the article. http://m.washingtonpost.com... Per the original author (UPDATE, Monday, 12:45 p.m.: I"ve added a parenthetical clarification in the first paragraph below noting that the 97 percent figure refers to studies that took a position on whether global warming was man made or not (66 percent of the studies surveyed did not express a position).) I could get a scientific consensus that Jesus Christ is the lord and saviour if I only asked Christian scientists. 3) Climate shift ought to be a legitimate concern of those who care about the future of humanity. This is equally irrelevant as Pro's first point. Regardless of the cause of climate change, be it man made or a natural cycle, it is our instinct to survive. This point is stating the obvious. In closing I wish to reiterate that this debate's only arguable point was #2, is climate change man made. I accepted this debate anyway in an attempt to overcome the obvious "slam dunk" framework that Pro had stacked in his/her favor. Furthermore Pro's entire argument about point #2 was based upon a consensus that doesn't exist unless you exclude 66% of published papers on this issue thereby cherry picking your statistics. The huge wall of info graphics and other data provided by Pro amounted to a fear mongering lecture of pseudo scientific prophecy. We don't even have accurate climate change models that predicted the 20 year pause in global warming, until after it was already observed and we adjusted our old models to account for this new information. Because of this, Pro's predictions about the year 2100 can even be taken seriously nor are they relevant to the only arguable question in this debate. Is climate shift man made... I trust the voters will see through Pro's attempt to manipulate their emotions with prophecy of doom.

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/Climate-Shift/2/