Environment

The quote above summarizes so clearly the world we are called to see today. I remember once reading that we can live in a house of mirrors where everything we believe is reflected back to us or a house of windows where reality changes moment by moment. To deny climate change is to choose to live in a house of mirrors, but the reality outside the windows is that millions of people are suffering and being displaced because of the disruptive effects of climate change: stronger storms in the form of tornados, hurricanes, and cyclones, tsunamis, forest fires, extreme drought in some areas and flooding in others, melting glaciers and rising sea levels.  Climate change knows no borders. It affects all of us, but those living in poverty are disproportionately affected.

Pope Francis reminds us in his encyclical Laudato Si’ that “Climate change is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all.” He continues with a quote from the Bolivian Bishops that “Both everyday experience and scientific research show that the gravest effects of all attacks on the environment are suffered by the poorest.” A call to climate justice is woven throughout the encyclical.

A brief look back at headlines of natural disasters around the world during the past year:

January

• Southern US states braced for floods as Mississippi nears record crest
• Floods hit 16,000 properties in wettest December in a century in the UK
• El Niño rain turns southern California roads to rivers
• Monster snow storm bears down on US east coast threatening chaos
• Deaths in Japan and Taiwan as record cold snap hits east Asia
• Wild weather lashes Australia, bringing damaging winds, flooding rains and hail

February

• Call for urgent inquiry into world heritage forest fires in Tasmania
• Rescuers race to save dozens trapped under rubble of Taiwan earthquake
• UK’s winter floods create 30,000 tonnes of landfill waste
• ‘Severe’ earthquake close to Christchurch (New Zealand) results in injuries and cliff collapse
• Cyclone Winston: tens of thousands homeless in Fiji a week after storm

March

• Tornado touches down in Oklahoma
• Military helicopters join fight against biggest wildfire in Kansas history
• Crane arm bent in half after 105mph Storm Katie winds hit UK
• Storms batter the Southern States while Australia still swelters

April

• Vanuatu hit by 6.9 magnitude earthquake
• Thousands stranded by floods and landslides in north-west Pakistan
• Battered Fiji braces for fresh disaster with arrival of Cyclone Zena
• Japan hit by 7.3-magnitude earthquake
• Ecuador earthquake: death toll triples following 7.8-magnitude quake
• Heavy rains lead to flooding of more than 1,000 Houston homes
• India crippled by extreme weather as 100 million exposed to floods

May

• Huge wildfire blazes across China-Mongolia border
• ‘Absolutely apocalyptic’: Fort McMurray evacuees describe terror of Alberta wildfires
• Dozens buried by landslide in south–east China after heavy rains
• 23 tornadoes rip across Midwest
• Sri Lanka floods displace 350,000 people and leave scores missing
• Powerful earthquake recorded in Australia’s Northern Territory
• ‘There are no words to describe how bad it is’: India endures severe heatwave
• Cyclone Roanu: Bangladesh moves 2 million people from coast
• Deadly volcanic eruption in Indonesia
• Western Australia earthquake has strength of ‘atomic bomb’
• Houses collapse during severe floods in southern Germany
• 20,000 Families Displaced by Floods in Ethiopia

June

• Sinkholes and landslides follow flooding in France and Germany
• Paris floods: ‘There’s something terrifying about it
• Northern Tasmania faces worst flooding in decades as storm heads south
• Floods in southern China, while a powerful tornado hits Montana
• New wildfires erupt in California as heatwave strikes west coast
• Deadly Floods Hit Central Region of Ghana

 July

• Typhoon Nida creates chaos across Hong Kong
• Deadly storm hits Macedonia
• Canary Islands fire ravages 7% of La Palma
• Hundreds evacuated from path of wildfire in southern France
• Floods Leave 11 Dead and 1,700 Homes destroyed in Niger

August

• Louisiana flooding: 20,000 people rescued as major disaster declared
• Floods in Louisiana and the Philippines, and a heatwave in South Korea
• Myanmar struck by 6.8-magnitude earthquake
• Deadly earthquake hits central Italy
• Typhoon Lionrock hits Japan
• Dozens Killed in Floods, Over 100,000 Affected in Sudan
• Deadly Floods in Mali and Burkina Faso

September

• East coast of New Zealand struck by earthquake of 7.1 magnitude
• Oklahoma earthquake among strongest in state history
• Wildfires in Spain force residents and holidaymakers to evacuate
• Train derails after landslide as heavy rain causes UK travel chaos
• Thirteen dead and more than 200 injured in 5.7 Tanzania earthquake
• Haze from Indonesian fires may have killed more than 100,000 people
• Samoa hit by hail storm so rare residents thought it was a hoax

October

• ‘It was like a monster’: Hurricane Matthew leaves Haiti in crisis
• Typhoon Chaba sweeps away houses and cars in South Korea
• Italy earthquake: historic structures levelled in biggest quake since 1980

November

• Thousands stranded and towns cut off after New Zealand quakes
• Fukushima residents urged to flee as 7.4 magnitude quake hits Japan
• 7-magnitude quake strikes near El Salvador as hurricane Otto makes landfall
• Torrential rain and floods hit south and eastern parts of Egypt
• Deadly Flash Floods Hit Johannesburg

December

• Thousands in Tennessee hope to return home as rain slows wildfires

This is just a brief snapshot of some of the multiple natural disasters which occurred during the past year. Not all, but many are caused by human activities. Millions of people have been affected; oftentimes those in countries with little infrastructure to cope with the after effects of these disasters.

I had the opportunity to meet the late Wangari Maathai, the Nobel Laureate from Kenya several years ago and something she said has stayed with me: “In the course of history there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground; a time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other.” It is time for all of us to look out the window and see the one world that we all share. Perhaps the mission of the Pachamama Alliance, an international environmental organization, might challenge each of us as we move into a new year: “To bring forth an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling and socially just human presence on this planet.”

“From here, thousands of miles away, the Earth shows the incredible beauty of a magnificent blue and white pearl, floating in a vast, dark sky. It looks like it could fit into the palm of my hand. On it there is everything that is sacred and loved by us.” Edgar Mitchell

“From the moon, Earth is so small and so fragile, and such a precious little spot in the universe, that you can block it out with your thumb. Then you realize that on that spot, that little blue and white circle, is everything that means anything to you – all history, music, poetry and art, birth and love and death, tears and joy…And then you are changed forever.”  Rusty Schweigert

“When I saw it from space in all its beauty and fragility, I saw our most urgent task — to cherish and preserve it.” Sigmund Jahn, GDR

Earth – our home as seen by the astronauts challenges all of us to accept this most urgent task of cherishing and preserving it. In a nutshell: Earth’s population today is 7.3 billion; more than 8.7 million kinds of plant and animal species inhabit the planet with humanity; scientists tell us that more than 80% of plant and animal species have yet to be identified; our planet is 29% land and 71% water. The single biggest threat to our home today is climate change.

Pope Francis reminds us that “Climate change is a global problem with grave implications…it represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day…A great cultural, spiritual and educational challenge stands before us, and it will demand that we set out on the long path of renewal.” Francis calls us to an ecological conversion. What does that mean?

It means taking the time to understand the realities of climate change. Is some of it natural? Absolutely. Natural causes include volcanic eruptions, ocean currents, earth’s orbital changes, solar variations, and global warming, but those changes take place over millions of years, not within a span of 50-100 years. Fossil fuels, solid waste, leaking coolants and aerosol spray propellants are causing changes unprecedented in human history. Signs of climate change can no longer be ignored. They are everywhere:  changing rain and snow patterns, changes in animal migration and life cycles, less snow and ice, thawing permafrost, changes in plant life cycles, warmer oceans, rising sea levels, damaged corals, stronger storms, higher temperatures and heat waves and more droughts.

Humanity’s ecological footprint, the measure of human demand on Earth’s resources, now exceeds the planet’s bio-capacity (its ability to renew resources) by 50%. In 1961 we used 74% of Earth’s resources in a single year. In 1985 we used 114% of Earth’s resources in a year and in 2012 we reached 156%. This year, August 8th, 2016, was Earth Overshoot Day, the day the planet’s inhabitants used up an entire year’s worth of resources.

What can one person do? Look at the following suggestions and decide today what steps you (and/or your organization) can take to help create a sustainable future, one in which “environmental, social and economic development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”:

1. Shut off your computer or put it to sleep when you aren’t using it;
2. Use public transportation or carpool whenever possible;
3. Take a shorter shower (by shortening your shower by one minute you can save more than one thousand gallons of water in a year);
4. Carry reusable bags when shopping;
5. Turn off the lights when you leave a room;
6. Buy local whenever possible.
7. Use a refillable travel mug or water bottle;
8. Turn off your cell phone at night;
9. Recycle paper, plastic, metal, and glass;
10. Turn down the thermostat (for every degree you turn down your thermostat you will save up to 3% in heating costs);
11. Print less and double-side whenever possible;
12. Compost;
13. Learn about renewable energy sources: biomass, solar, wind, geothermal, water;
14. Write a letter to the editor and/or local and national legislators expressing your concerns about environmental sustainability;
15. Support environmental organizations (e.g. Ohio Interfaith Power and Light);
16. Take the St. Francis Pledge: Pledge to PRAY, ACT and ADVOCATE for a more sustainable world. (http://www.catholicclimatecovenant.org/pledge)
17. Learn more about the UN Sustainable Development Goals. (http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/)
18. Vote for candidates who are committed to creating a more sustainable world for all.

Earth: One Planet, One Home, One Community.

In a recent TED talk by Al Gore, he outlines clearly the challenges we face if we do not address climate change, but also gives hope by articulating the positive initiatives that are currently taking place to address the issue. He asks three questions. The first is “Do we really have to change?” He begins with the startling statistic that the amount of heat generated daily by manmade greenhouse gas pollution is equal to the same amount of heat energy that would be released by 400,000 Hiroshima-class atomic bombs. This trapped heat, he notes, is the cause of warming oceans and the increased water vapor and energy in the atmosphere which have led to stronger storms, extreme floods, and longer droughts. Extreme temperature events used to cover 0.1% of the Earth. Now they cover 14.5%. Fourteen of the fifteen hottest years on record have occurred since 2001 with 2015 being the hottest year ever. January of 2016 was the hottest January on record. The answer to that question given the data is unequivocally yes.

His second question is “Can we change?” and here he shows how change is already taking place on multiple fronts. Renewable energy sources are growing exponentially. The cost of solar energy alone has come down almost 10 percent every year for the past 30 years. Scientists tell us that enough solar energy reaches earth every hour to fill all the world’s energy needs for a full year. In the United States alone during 2015 sources for new electric generation capacity came from wind (38.2%), solar (32.8%), hydro, biomass and geothermal (2.3%), coal (0.01%) and oil (0.07%). Yet the government continues to subsidize the fossil fuel industry 40X more than renewables. Change can certainly happen if the political will is there.

The third question is “Will we change?” This question is up to us. In December of 2015, the United States was one of 195 countries who approved the Paris Agreement on climate change and agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is now our responsibility as citizens of a democracy to see that we keep our commitment to the world community.

The United States Department of Defense has issued the following statement: “Climate change will likely lead to food and water shortages, pandemic diseases, disputes over refugees and resources and destruction by natural disasters in regions across the globe.” In other words, climate change has geopolitical consequences. Syria, where 1.5 million people moved to the cities because their land was no longer capable of sustaining crops and livestock, is an excellent example of this. Those 1.5 million people crowded into cities doubling the population in a very short time creating conditions for the violence and unrest we see today.

Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato Si’ states that “Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods. It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day.”  He goes on to say that “What is needed is a politics which is far-sighted and capable of a new, integral and interdisciplinary approach to handling the different aspects of the crisis…if politics shows itself incapable of breaking such a perverse logic, and remains caught up in inconsequential discussions, we will continue to avoid facing the major problems of humanity.

We have not only the privilege, but also the responsibility to vote. Following are some of the questions to consider when reading about or listening to candidates for public office:

How does each candidate talk about climate change?

Does he or she have any policies for addressing this issue?

What is his/her position on transitioning from dependency on fossil fuels toward clean energy alternatives?

Does he/she plan to honor the emissions-reduction commitments our nation made at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris (the Paris Agreement)?

Will our nation honor its commitment to assist developing nations – who are least responsible for climate change but most impacted by it – in coping with threats such as increased droughts, floods, and sea-level rise by sharing clean energy technology and other support?

As Pope Francis has reminded us climate change is no longer open to debate. It is a reality which is “affecting millions of people daily and requires an examination of our lives and an acknowledgement of the ways in which we have harmed God’s creation through our actions and our failure to act”.