Environmental Philosophy Term Paper

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Environmental Philosophy

The first Grays arrived in 2010, but they did not come en masse until a century later. The initial group of twenty brought with them a plethora of testing equipment from their home planet and took with them a total of two thousand samples from our environment. With the cooperation of the United Nations Council on Extraterrestrial Life (UNCEL), the Grays were permitted to take with them soil samples from hundreds of Earth locations and hundreds of botanical samples, many of which were of plants edible to humans but many of which were deemed palatable by the Grays. The Grays also took atmospheric air samples and water samples, both saline and non-saline, with them. Once the extensive surveys determined that their species could and would live on Earth comfortably, and once UNCEL approved it, about ten thousand of the Grays were permitted to come to the planet. The political problems of dealing with the Grays were immense, but the scientific ones were even greater and continue to plague the human scientific community. Of greatest concern to environmental scientists is of the future impact of the Grays on the Earth and on its inhabitants. Other factors of equal import, such as the cultural, political, economic, and political impacts of the Grays, are beyond the scope of this report.

The Grays' anatomy differs from human beings in a number of key respects. However, many of the differences between the Grays and the humans are cosmetic. For example, they have four arms and very large ears that cover almost the entire side of their heads. They are hairless, and their whitish gray skin is immensely smooth. The Grays have a relatively low tolerance for light; their eyes are huge and cover a good portion of their visage. Most Grays, about 90%, have light blue, almost purple eyes that are sensitive to light, and their skin is likewise sensitive. In fact, too much sun exposure will cause their skin to blister. The Grays do, however, have incredible spontaneous healing capabilities (which will be discussed in more detail later), and the blisters will heal within twenty-four hours after the application of certain herbs or oils. Because of their light sensitivity, the Grays settled in places on the planet that would not receive too much yearly sunlight. Most of the Grays chose to live in parts of Canada, Northern Europe, and Southern New Zealand and Australia. To adapt to increased exposure to natural light, the Grays applied standard sunscreen lotions to their skin, which allowed them to achieve a sort of "base tan" that inured them to long summers. According to the Grays and based on their photographs, their home planet is far darker than ours; their strongest daylight would be akin to our twilight. Also due to their low tolerance for light, the Grays remain indoors much of the time. Because they had perfected food manufacturing, the Grays had little experience in agricultural science.

The Grays had learned how to chemically manufacture foods in the laboratory; starvation is a foreign concept to the Grays, who have never had a problem feeding their entire planet's population due to their partial independence from traditional agriculture. The Grays also do not eat very much at all; they take their food in the form of pills, energy drinks, and bars that resemble our protein or athletic bars. In fact, much of the food that they choose to eat resembles high-tech athletic foods that many people are familiar with. The nutritional needs of the Grays are very similar to that of human beings as far as vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates, and fats are concerned. The only difference between the two species seems to be that the Grays eat a great deal less than their human counterparts, and also drink less. The implications of their ostensibly lower metabolism are generally positive as far as the future of Earth is concerned, for there is little fear that the Grays will be depleting the Earth's food resources.

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In fact, quite the opposite is true.

The Grays are currently trying to set up food manufacturing plants within their community and are in continuous dialogue with human scientists about the theories and processes of food manufacturing. Human scientists on three continents have set up experimental food manufacturing laboratories and research centers. Each of these centers has a substantial staff of Gray consultants working with the human scientists toward the optimal development and implementation of their food manufacturing technologies. The procedure is actually very simple: grains, legumes, fruits, nuts, oils, and vegetables in their whole form are dehydrated and pressed into concentrated foodstuffs. The resulting products are far more concentrated than any protein bar ever before marketed on Earth; around ten times the amounts of nutrients are contained in a Gray-made energy bar than a human-made one.

Concerns about the Gray food manufacturing procedures are many: will eating concentrated, processed foodstuffs have a detrimental effect on human health and well-being? Most scientists and nutritionists say that because the manufactured foods contain wholesome ingredients in concentrated form, they are just as healthful and nutritious as traditional full meals. The manufactured foods are considered to be more nutritious than fast foods, and are actually less processed than many foods sold in grocery stores. Therefore, the manufactured foods are nutritionally preferable to many of the prepackaged, processed foods that human beings already consume.

Those who believe that the concentrated foodstuffs are inappropriate for the human population base their arguments more on sociological, psychological, political, and cultural grounds rather than scientific ones. For example, some social scientists feel that food plays an integral role in human social interactions and replacing home-cooked meals with energy bars will have a detrimental effect on human society. Others focus more on the ill effects on the farming community and on the agricultural profession and cite the potential economic and political disasters that could arise. However, in general, scientists have lauded the nutritional content of the manufactured foods.

Currently, manufacturing foods according to the Gray's means is an expensive endeavor. However, if the procedure is perfected and if the agricultural infrastructure is changed to reflect this shift in eating patterns, then food manufacturing can potentially have an immensely positive effect on the human community. If manufactured foods become marketable, there is great potential for companies to make money while saving the environment. Food manufacturing eliminates the feasibility of overproduction of crops. Food manufacturing depends on a vegetarian diet, which the Grays have practiced for millennia. Therefore, food manufacturing can lead to a decreased dependence on cattle, poultry, fish, and other animal products, which cause significant environmental damage.

The drawbacks to food manufacturing are obvious, for it would take a great deal of time before the human community could make the transition from traditional agriculture to agriculture designed specifically with food manufacturing in mind. In the meantime, human beings will likely continue to practice traditional agricultural procedures but with the end goal of shifting some of the food focus toward the Gray's revolutionary eating methods.

One of the largest anatomical differences between the Grays and human beings is that the Grays are hermaphroditic. All grays are born with both male and female sex organs and therefore all Grays are bisexual and all Grays can bear children. Moreover, the Grays can only bear one child in their lifetime, as each Gray produces only one egg. This aspect of their anatomy prevents the possibility of overpopulation and alleviated the very real fear that the alien species would eventually take over the planet. In fact, the Grays' inability to reproduce ad infinitum was one of the reasons why UNCEL permitted such a large number of Grays to settle on our planet. No experiments have been conducted to determine whether or not Grays and human beings can mate,….....

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