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Thursday, March 9
St. Francis and the Birth of Earth Day
by
Linda Thieman
on Thu 09 Mar 2006 11:00 AM CST
 St. Francis and the Birth of Earth Day
by John McConnell, Earth Day Founder and Iowa Native
This article was submitted to Blog for Iowa
by the founder of Earth Day himself, Iowa native John McConnell.
WHAT WOULD ST. FRANCIS DO NOW?
The
global celebration of Earth Day on March 20, the first day of Spring,
is a matter directly related to St. Francis and the amazing results of
his vision and life. Were he here today, he would undoubtedly
focus all his prayer and effort on achieving Earth Day's original
purpose.
A little about Earth Day history will illustrate this.
Earth
Day is on the March Equinox, which determines the annual date of
Easter. (Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon
following the March equinox.)
Not only
that, the equinox is also the New Year in Iran and other Islam
countries, which makes possible attention for a common purpose - the
sustainable care of Earth, with justice and peace for all.
This will help us show real love for our world neighbors and the web of life that covers our globe.
ST. FRANCIS AND THE BIRTH OF EARTH DAY
The
first Earth Day was inaugurated in San Francisco - The City of St.
Francis. I had long been familiar with the Prayer of St.
Francis: "Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where
there is hatred, let me sow love..." In 1969, we obtained backing
of the mayor, city officials, churches, schools, businesses - a really
all-out event with massive coverage in media. While the event was
backed by Franciscans and Catholic churches, participation included
synagogues and many other denominations. The Red Cross delivered
plants to schools for children to take home.
In
succeeding Earth Days at the United Nations, we demonstrated that
people of diverse creeds and cultures can leave room for their
differences and come together for "peace, justice and the care of
Earth."
A factor
in the choice of the date was my own history. In 1957, I obtained
global attention for an editorial in my weekly North Carolina "Toe
Valley View" newspaper. The first Sputnik Satellite had just been
launched on October 4th. None of the media seemed to note that
this was the "Feast Day of St. Francis." And launched by the then
Godless USSR! (The person who chose the date must have been a
secret Christian.)
My
editorial called for a visible "Star of Hope" satellite. It would
be launched as a symbol of hope to further understanding and peace on
our planet. It obtained front page attention around the world.
My own
study and prayer life led to the conviction that we needed a common
purpose that would appeal to people of all creeds and cultures - and a
way to get attention for it. We needed something that would
end history's terrible record of war and injustice.
These thoughts planted the seeds that led to Earth Day.
Another
factor was my efforts in 1963 to get global participation in a
daily "Minute for Peace." I was responsible for the Minute
for Peace on radio world-wide, which followed the period of mourning
for President Kennedy. "Peace begins in the mind." We asked
for a one minute radio spot on all stations that would carry the sound
of a bell and a thought or prayer for peace. We invited all
listeners to join in this special minute - to deepen their
commitment and increase their efforts for world peace.
Minute
for Peace became the centerpiece of Earth Day. When we ring the
UN Peace Bell we invite people world wide to join in two minutes of
heartfelt prayer that we will overcome "doubt with faith" and strive to
be a responsible Trustee of Earth.
Pray
that every year St. Francis Day and Earth Day will bring a new sense of
identity with the whole human family and a commitment to see peace
through understanding and love. And may we put feet to our
prayers with action to help make it happen.
John McConnell
www.earthsite.org
ONE LAST GLOBAL WARMING WARNING
by
Molly Regan
on Thu 09 Mar 2006 05:00 AM CST
 ONE LAST GLOBAL WARMING WARNING
From the New York Times ….March 5, 2006, Comes this article entitled : "WARM, WARMER, WARMEST"
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
"One of the hottest environmental battles has been over oil drilling in
the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but the sad
reality is that much of the Arctic plain will probably be lost anyway
in this century to rising sea levels. That should be our paramount
struggle: TO STOP GLOBAL WARMING. It threatens not only the Arctic
plain, but also low-lying areas around the world with 100 million
inhabitants. And it could be accelerating because of the three scariest
words in climate science: positive feedback loops.
"Bear with me now: a positive feedback loop occurs when a small change
leads to an even larger change of the same type. For example, a modest
amount of warming melts ice in northern climates. But the bare ground
absorbs three times as much heat as ground covered by snow or ice, so
the change amplifies the original warming. Even more ice melts, more
heat is absorbed, and the spiral grows… perhaps the biggest single
source of uncertainty about whether Lower Manhattan will be underwater
in 2100 has to do with the glaciers of Greenland. If Greenland's ice
sheet melted completely, that alone - over centuries - would raise the
oceans by 23 feet. And those glaciers are dumping much more water into
the oceans than they did a decade ago, according to two satellite
surveys just published, but the studies disagree on the amounts…
"The Arctic permafrost may hold 14 percent of the world's carbon, but
as it melts, some of its carbon dioxide and methane are released,
adding to the amount of greenhouse gases. So more permafrost melts.
Likewise, millions of years ago, warming oceans with vast amounts of
methane in their depths had great episodes of methane belching, which
added to the greenhouse effect then. I don't expect the oceans to burp
in the same massive way tomorrow, but if they did, no one would know
how to fit those unmannerly oceans into a climate model.
Part of the challenge in modeling climate is that we're already off the
charts with greenhouse gases like nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and
methane. "We've driven them out of the range that has existed for the
last one million years," noted JAMES HANSEN, NASA's top climate expert.
"And the climate has not fully responded to changes that have already
occurred."
"In fairness, there are also negative feedback loops, which could
dampen change. For example, warmer temperatures could mean more snow
over Antarctica, implying an initial buildup of the Antarctic ice
sheet. The added ice could slow global warming and rising sea levels.
But a new study just published in SCIENCE EXPRESS says that the
Antarctic ice sheet is already thinning significantly - raising more
alarms and casting doubt on that negative feedback. In any case, it's
clear that negative feedback loops in climatology are much less common
than positive loops, which amplify change and leave our climate both
unstable and vulnerable to human folly…GLOBAL WARMING MAY ULTIMATELY BE
THE GREATEST TEST WE FACE AS STEWARDS OF OUR PLANET. AND SO FAR WE'RE
FAILING CATASTROPHICALLY.
"Historians of science will be brutal on us," said Jerry Mahlman, a
climate expert at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. "WE ARE
RIGHT NOW IN A STATE OF DEEP DENIAL ABOUT HOW SEVERE THE PROBLEM
IS. Political people are saying, 'Well, it's not on my
watch.' They're ducking for cover, because who's going to tell the
American people? We know what to do: energy conservation, gas taxes and
carbon taxes, more renewable energy sources like wind and solar power…
But our political system is paralyzed in the face of what may be the
single biggest challenge to our planet.
"Are we an intelligent species or not?" Dr. Mahlman asked. "Right now, the evidence is against it."
I SAY TIME FOR ACTION…LET'S GET ON WITH IT… CPR…CONSERVE/PARTICIPATE/RECYCLE
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