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Writer's pictureProfiles in Catholicism
Aug 3028 min read

Environment and Climate Challenges



A Message from the Editor


Experts have predicted that heat-related deaths could rise 370% by mid-century. We leaned that Climate change is linked to 5 million deaths a year, a new study shows.

According to the CDC, environmental changes to the built environment can be effective protective measures for human health and against the effects of climate change. Green spaces and new technologies such as cool roofs can offer benefits in urban settings. Adaptation measures, such as increased access to air conditioning or cooling centers, can safeguard communities from the health impacts of extreme heat. Similarly, access to central heating can protect individuals from extreme cold. Additional examples include adding sound landscape design such as planting trees to shade public spaces and offer healthy exercise areas. These actions are also beneficial in that they help to reduce greenhouse gases. 


This challenge is also political in the United States. Donald Trump has repeatedly called climate change a “Hoax” If he is reelected, some experts predict that his administration could result in tens of thousands unnecessary heat-related deaths It would be helpful if ethicists would address this challenge.


 

The New Orleans priest who attempted to rape  a woman in New Orleans and moved him to another parish should also be terminated  and sent to jail  along with those who transferred him.

 

There is a widely quoted statement going back to the sixteenth century “Tell Me Who Your Friends Are,  and I’ll Tell You Who You Are” . So it was no surprise when Trump's Steve Bannon Caught Coordinating With Neonazi Terrorists To Indoctrinate MAGA Conservatives. Recruiting Neo-Nazis to support Trump confirms Trump embracing Neo-Nazi’s.

 

Taylor Swift should consider filing a claim against Donald Trump for his fake AI Image endorsement of her.

 

We should all be concerned about the rise of the Neo-Nazis both in the United States and Europe.

 

A Quote to Remember

 

“'We simply must do everything we can in our power to slow down global warming before it is too late... The science is clear. The global warming debate is over."

by Arnold Schwarzenegger

 

Prayers

 

Saving the planet Earth


The world is heating, we are cooking ourselves to death,

We are burning coal and oil and everything we can,

We are the arsonists of this planet and will bring it to an end,

We will soon return to the primeval state from where we first began.

So raise your banner and join the march,

Let your voice be loud for all to hear.

There is nothing more important than we stand,

As one against the intimidation and the fear.

The climate is a changing, the forests are burning and falling down.

The oceans are filled with plastic and the earth is turning from green to brown.

We must challenge the politics and the powers,

The tycoons of industry and corruption are all around.

We must cry foul, to save the Earth.

The climate is changing for the worst, that is the greatest threat.

I see the hope in the voices of the youth,

That demand with Greta that change must come.

I feel the strength and the mighty power of honesty and the truth,

The people are on the move, the children and the old,

The brave and courageous youth.

They will change the minds and hardened hearts.

They will restore the Planet green and blue.

They will live and fight for what is so right, good and true

by Father Shay Cullen  Profiles in Catholicism


A Prayer for Children Who Died from Excessive Heat


Lord of Creation, The world is heating; we are cooking ourselves to death.

We are burning coal and oil and everything we can.

We are the arsonists of this planet and will bring it to an end,

We will soon return to the primeval state from where we first began.

So raise your banner and join the march.

Let your voice be loud for all to heart

There is nothing more important than we stand,

As one against the intimidation and the fear.

The climate is changing; the forests are burning and falling down.

The oceans are filled with plastic and the earth is turning from green to brown.

We must challenge the politics and the powers,

The tycoons of industry and corruption all around,

We must cry foul, to save the Earth,

The climate is changing for the worst, that is the greatest threat.

I see the hope in the voices of the youth,

That demand with Greta that change must come.

I feel the strength and the mighty power of honesty and the truth,

The people are on the move, the children and the old,

The brave and courageous youth.

They will change the minds and hardened hearts,

they will restore the Planet green and blue,

They will live and fight for what is so right, good and

by Father Joseph Chamblain, O.S.M. Profiles in Catholicism


Prayer for those who died from heat--related illness.

 

Lord, so many of your people are suffering. Today we remember those who died because of the great heat we experienced. Receive them into your peace. Wash away every tear and give them comfort in your loving embrace. we ask this through Christ our Lord

 

by Father John O'Brien, OFM  Profiles in Catholicism

 

A prayer to protect the environment

 

“Incorporation”

 

Dear Lord, you grew from the gift of your nourishing mother, Mary,

Who had drunk from the water and eaten from the food of the land:

What splashes of light, dazzled, broke and burst from the jars, as they

Filled to the brim, were scooped off to drink and poured off to wash.

What sounds of work, whether choosing and carrying the wood of a

Carpenter, toiling in the heat and sheltering in the shade of the foliage.

What contrasts in the flowers, colored shadows, coolness in the night, Nurturing listening, listening again, and again talking with the Father.

Oh Creator-God, how amazing are the atomic particles which glue As water whooshing, swirling and umbrelling into flowing shapes

Challenging us to think liquid, droplets, vapour and solid as the Rise and fall of heat transports a “sticky” flow from state to state.

Dear Lord, you were baptised by the Baptist, in the Jordon waters off mountains, passed by the land, into the liturgy of entering the Church:

What numberless times you healed broken hearts and bodies in Israel

So tendrils of praise reached, like in a lightning storm, to your Father.

What skies shone in the firmament, showing through from the Beginning,

the out of reach splendour of colouring swathes of heaven.

What time you gave to giving us a whole life, unhampered in the Giving, taking into life all who came and did come and are coming.

Oh Creator-God, how human you have made us, making us to be Among each other, like the community that you are, giving each One of us a unique identity, conceived-in-relationship, raised in relationship, ready to meet you and us in this “place of meeting”.

Dear Lord, you were born into a family, extended over time by the welcome of others, whether their parents died or were too ill to care.

What gathering of others and being gathered, whether walking and Working with Joseph, helping to bear the load of low-income living.

What is left of your garments, woven from plant threads, fibre science Passed from generation to generation, woven well into a single whole.

What everyday delights in the spaces between home and being away,

In the fruit of the land, in the Synagogue and in the singing of psalms.

Oh Creator-God, how many gifts you poured into men and Women,

from the use of human hands to shape and write, sing, invent, to philosophise, to understand, like good doctors, how to work with the grain of growth

and to give a word from you to help.

Dear Lord, you took to yourself the goodness of creation and there, beheld, that wheat and grapes, worked by human hands, are changed:

What hours of work, from preparing the ground to planting, to Carefully picking off the slugs and bugs and giving them another diet.

What suffering as a blight takes hold and defeats the ingenuity of man,

Who bleeds from his heart as the earth’s yield diminishes and drops.

What hope arises with the help of God to persevere and plant again, Joined in so many ways to the help of others, sending grain-as-gifts.

Oh Creator-God, how intricately woven are the tiny organs, Encased within seeds, embryonic unfolding of plants, shooting Down and rising up, twirling around sticks, flowering orangy-red, Hosting insects, losing colour and growing beans and flowering.

Dear Lord, how we wrought a thorny crown out of what had grown, nails and hammer out of the ore of the earth and a cross from a tree.

What mangling of the human body we have practiced, especially

Upon the innocent, the vulnerable, the undefended, in denial of death.

What freezing, experimentation, plans of torment we have explored In the flesh of the living, imagining we will not answer to our Maker.

What hidden wounds we have inflicted on ourselves at each turn of The pain that wells up, when we are addressed by our very actions.

Oh Creator-God, how beautiful is the recreation of the lost,

the Poor and poor of heart, the broken and abandoned, the renewal of Planet home,

the replanting, recycling, revisiting the places of Hatred with songs of reconciliation and understanding of wounds.

Dear Lord of the Resurrection let us rise with you in time, hoping to begin the transfiguring ascent, taking what love everlastingly does!

 

by Francis Etheredge Profiles in Catholicism

 

Prayer for Darfur

 

Heavenly Father,

We come before You with heavy hearts, lifting up the people of Darfur who are suffering from famine. We ask for Your mercy and provision in this time of great need. Please bring rain to the parched lands, and let the earth yield its bounty once more.

Grant wisdom and compassion to those in positions of power, that they may act swiftly and justly to bring relief. Strengthen the hands of aid workers and bless their efforts to provide food, water, and medical care.

Comfort those who are grieving the loss of loved ones and give hope to those who feel despair. May Your peace, which surpasses all understanding, guard their hearts and minds.

In the name of the Father, Jesus, his Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

by Eileen Quinn Knight, Ph.D. Profiles in Catholicism

 

Environment and Climate Interviews



General Interviews

 

 

Papal Encyclical

 


Environment and Climate Challenges New and Noteworthy


Our Friends and Colleagues Environment and Climate Articles and Commentaries



General Articles and Commentaries



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The Month in Review

 

Articles and Commentaries



Featured Report



Medical Journal Articles

Book Reviews, Commentaries, and Announcements



Film Reviews and Commentaries



Music Reviews and Commentaries



Television Reviews and Commentaries


 

Videos


Fr. John T. Pawlikowski - A perspective on Laudato Si', Pope Francis' second Encyclical Letter


EarthBeat: Climate-conscious young Christian voters and the 2020 election - YouTube


On Care for Our Common Home: C. Vanessa White - YouTube


Do it now, Sing for the Climate (English version)

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