Spirituality and Ecological Hope

Fostering Ecological Hope

Today from Margaret Swedish:

They are so beautiful.  They are vital for marine life. And they are dying. 

If you care about the ecology of our planet, you have probably already heard that coral reefs are in deep trouble.  A new report shows that they are dying because of rising levels of acidity in the oceans due to rising carbon dioxide emissions.  The chemistry of the waters is being altered.  Coral reefs and the life they support could disappear by the end of the century.

Here is a link to an article about it in today’s Washington Post.  A couple of highlights:

“For decades scientists have viewed the oceans’ absorption of carbon dioxide as an environmental plus, because it mitigates the effects of global warming.  But by taking up one-third of the atmosphere’s carbon dioxide — much of which stems from exhaust from automobiles, power plants and other industrial sources — oceans are transforming their pH level.”

Sad, isn’t it?  Driving our cars, turning on our lights, are connected to the imbalance in the oceans’ chemistry and the death of marine life.  I know this is hard.  We didn’t know we were doing this.  But now we do, and the question is, what are we going to do about it?

Ecological hope lies in how we answer that question.

“What we’re doing in the next decade will affect our oceans for millions of years.” said one of the scientists in the study, Ken Caldeira.

“If carbon dioxide emissions continue at their current levels, Caldeira said, ‘It’s say good bye’ to coral reefs.”

I don’t want to, do you?