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This article reviews the contribution of ecosystem services to human existence, followed by a quantitative investigation into the state of our planet with specific reference to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. This synthesis reveals that despite the fact that the global community has undertaken a wide range of environmental conservation measures to protect the ecological resilience of the ecosystems for the sake of sustaining long-term human existence, ecological degradation remains a serious problem across the globe. It is concluded that while the establishment of environmental protection measures is important to promote ecological sustainability, what is needed is a new view of human relationship with nature that will ensure ethical behaviour towards it. The way forward is to encourage the cultivation of a harmonious human–environment relationship based on the ethics of human–nature relations.
anthropocene, bio-capacity deficit, ecosystem health, environmental ethics, global warming, human existence
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