Spirituality and Ecological Hope

Fostering Ecological Hope

Today from Margaret Swedish:

This morning's New York Times has lots of bad news regarding the impact of global warming.  One article had to do with the bad news coming to your back yard.  More poison ivy with more potent poison, broader ranges for invasive insects, which means more Lyme disease, more West Nile Virus (and the reappearance of old scourges, like malaria, dengue fever, encephalitis, not mentioned in this article but at this link) — because there will be more mosquitos, more nasty little ticks.

This is what a study at Duke University proved will happen under conditions of increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2).  For you allergy and asthma sufferers (there are a number such folks in my family), it will also mean more ragweed, more pollen, longer more intense allergy seasons. 

The study also found that episodic drought and floods will favor insect breeding, and, as we know, these cycles will be characteristic of the new climate conditions brought about by increased CO2 in our atmosphere. Apparently some insects love the fetid nasty pools of water left to fester during periods of drought.  Such conditions helped spread West Nile Virus back several years ago (I was a victim, as you may recall from an earlier post. Trust me, being a pioneer of one of the global warming diseases was not a particularly happy experience).

Another Times contribution looks at the intersection of development, loss of habitat, and disappearing species of birds and animals.  The focus of the article is a Connecticut environmentalist, Brendan Hanrahan, and mentions his blog.  So here's the link.

Well, Mr. Hanrahan is an expression of the ecological hope part of this story.  And so is this: a front page story on how one Indiana town, Reynolds, is attempting to become the first energy independent town in the US, a BioTown.  I would love to know what you think of this — a town whose energy would come from pig and cow waste (human waste, too) as source of methane to produce natural gas, and corn-based fuels for flex cars.  I found this community, committing to a grand experiment like this, to be incredibly hopeful.

Do you know of similar experiments that you might want to tell Ecological Hope about?  I would like to include more links to such projects, indications that even in some unsuspecting places there are folks getting ready for the new world coming with our wanton abuse of the earth.  Just imagine what the energy industry, trying to keep you and me addicted to  their products [and profits], will think of this! 

Ecological Hope is a project of the Center for New Creation. Contributions are tax-deductible and can be sent to the address on this blog.