We must protect our beautiful, fragile Earth
I read the United Nation’s biodiversity report in conjunction with watching butterflies visit my neighbor’s Lantana bush. Each year I look forward to the activity of yellow and black swallowtails and bumblebees as they feed on her orange-and-pink perennial while I do my dishes.
Last year, steel-blue and brown hummingbirds joined the feast.
However, the somber, sober, detailed report, published on May 6, makes me question the future of these beautiful animals and plant.
It says that one million of the earth’s animal and plant species are in danger of extinction “within decades.” I was reminded of comments in the Talmud, a set of books containing the Jewish religion’s history and its laws and beliefs; and by John Chrysostom (A.D. 349-407), a Church Father who wrote widely; St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226), known for his affinity with nature; and St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), a Benedictine abbess and poet in the Rhineland who composed music and wrote on theology, medicine, and botany.
I likewise reflected on creation’s complementary accounts in Genesis 1-2. A version of the statement, “And God saw that it was good,” comes seven times in Genesis 1; each punctuates God’s orderly work on consecutive days. God places the man in the garden to work it and take care of it (Gen. 2:15).
The U.N. report, from the Intergovernmental Science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, indicates we human beings are not doing a good job of caring for our larger garden, the earth.
Here are some of the report’s highlights interspersed with comments on creation from Jewish and early Christian perspectives:
❚ Land degradation has reduced the productivity of 23% of the global land surface.
❚ Up to $577 billion in annual global crops are at risk from pollinator loss
❚ 100 million to 300 million people are at increased risk of floods and hurricanes because of loss of coastal habitats and protection. The Talmud states: “Whatsoever the Holy One, blessed be He, created in His Universe he created but for His glory” (Aboth vi.11).
❚ In 2015, 33% of marine fish stocks were being harvested at unsustainable levels. ❚ Urban areas have more than doubled since 1992. ❚ Plastic pollution has doubled since 1980. ❚ 300 million to 400 million tons of heavy metals, solvents, toxic sludge and other wastes from industrial facilities are dumped annually into the world’s waters.
A poem by Hildegard warns against injuring the earth: “God desires that all the world be pure in his sight. The earth should not be injured. The earth should not be destroyed.” The UN report urges “transformative measures” involving individuals, industries, communities, and governments. It stresses urgent environmental action in a diminishing window of time. It places world population at 7.6 billion.
Creation is fragile. Each must answer this question: How can I best care for my portion of God’s creation?
With growing concern, I keep looking for hummingbirds around the Lantana.
Robin Gallaher Branch, an adjunct professor at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, teaches Old Testament and New Testament courses. She can be reached at rbranch3@cbu.edu.