Creation Care Corner

We don’t like to find more bad news about our stewardship of the natural world, but it just keeps coming;

• Global sea levels rose 35 percent more than expected last year, climbing by 0.23 inches according to NASA satellite data. Melting ice sheets and glaciers, and methane releases from melting permafrost partially account for this, but the biggest factor was an unusual amount of ocean warming leading to expanded water volume.  Ocean warming is also the major cause of extreme weather events.
• California’s wild salmon are at risk because of climate-driven changes. When stranded downstream by low water levels, breeding failed across several species. Because they return to where they hatched, new generations may not know how to find their spawning grounds, risking complete loss of species.
• A 27-year study of rainforests in Central and South America showed puzzling declines in forest birds in remote, intact habitats- the kinds of places where birds should be thriving. Hotter and drier conditions during dry seasons from March to September significantly reduced survival rates for 24 out of the 29 species studied.  For every 1.8 degrees F increase in temperature, survival dropped by 63% on average.  Reduced rainfall also negatively affected the birds; a 0.4-inch decrease led to a 14% reduction in survival.  Understory insect populations the birds feed on were reduced.  These world-wide climate conditions are primarily caused by industrialized nations, not by Central and South America.

God gave us dominion over the earth to use it for our sustenance, but also to protect it from destruction, for future generations.  In the pioneer days in our country, when it was difficult to build a simple home, raise enough food to feed one’s family and be able to sell some of it for “cash money” to buy fabric or tools, there were very few people here.  Our activities had nearly negligible effects on the natural world.  The estimated population of the entire US in 1800 was 6 million people.  This was followed by a long period of population increases, and increases in the standard of living for most of us.  Now, with the US population at 337 million, the world’s population at 8.2 billion, and the climate changing before our very eyes, we have a situation where we need to begin learning to make do with less again, more like the pioneers.  Human activities are now causing major changes on the earth.  We have too many people using the resources and dumping our trash.

We need to stop driving RVs and trucks that only get 10 miles per gallon.  We need to combine multiple trips and take fewer of them.  We need to continue recycling remembering that most of what we collect for recycling does not actually get recycled.  So, the better strategy is to buy supplies in paper or cardboard containers, or in refillable containers.  We need to  repair machinery and appliances when we can, instead of discarding them.  The thinking used to be “If it broke, replace it.”  Now, even if it is expensive to repair, it still may be better to repair and extend its life.  And do we really need almost everything we use to be powered by electricity?  Do we really need so many types of minor kitchen appliances?  We need to become more miserly with electricity; it may still be relatively cheap to keep lights on all day but think what it costs the environment to produce that electricity.  It would be better to return in some ways to the “good old days”.

Sandy McKitrick, Climate Care Team