Love Gives Everything reminds us of our Constitution, paragraph 9 and General Directory, paragraph 19a, “As the desire of Jesus that all may be one becomes more fully our own, our striving for unity embraces all humanity and the whole of creation” and “Because the earth and its resources are God’s gift to all humanity, we are reverent, just, and sparing in our use of created things, concerned for the needs of present and future generation.”
- On December 2, 2020, Secretary-General Guterres of the United Nations stated that humanity is waging a war on nature and this is most true in our relationship to the oceans. A key factor in this war is climate change. Unfortunately, the need to address the issues associated with the pandemic has restrained the plans for conferences to further discussions of strategies to control climate change, biodiversity loss in our oceans, food security, and renewable energy.
- Climate change is affecting our water cycle and making potable water unavailable to our most vulnerable children.
- Rising temperatures allow deadly pathogens to grow in the water supply.
- The severity of floods and droughts is increasing with rising temperatures.
- The Paris agreement is an international joint effort to combat climate change.
- As the availability of clean water declines, the deserts grow. This results in less fertile soil for growing crops. As this occurs, the number of people who have to flee their homelands to find food and water grows.
- Pope Francis in Fratelli Tutti: “Amid this storm (the pandemic), the façade of those stereotypes with which we camouflaged our egos, always worrying about appearances, has fallen away, revealing once more the ineluctable and blessed awareness that we are part of one another, that we are brothers and sisters of one another.” ¶32
- The province Water Committee invites you to reflect upon and pray about these facts to discern actions that you might take to ensure that our children today and in the future have potable water to drink. Consider reading one or more of these articles.
Links for Climate Crisis and Water
https://www.unicef.org/stories/water-and-climate-change-10-things-you-should-know
https://www.unwater.org/water-facts/climate-change/
https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2019/09/23/climate-change-impacts-water/
https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/water-and-climate-change
https://www.siwi.org/latest/5-reasons-why-the-climate-crisis-is-a-water-crisis/
https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/water-and-climate-change
https://earth.stanford.edu/news/effects-climate-change-water-shortages#gs.ptie8m
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/how-climate-change-impacts-water-access/
https://cen.acs.org/environment/water/Climate-change-affect-access-fresh/98/i6
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/water/publication/high-and-dry-climate-change-water-and-the-economy
