George Monbiot in his Guardian blog today says "Two weeks ago a momentous event occurred: the beginning of the world's first evacuation of an entire people as a result of manmade global warming..... The Carteret Islands are off the coast of Bougainville, which, in turn, is off the coast of Papua New Guinea. They are small coral atolls on which 2,600 people live.... There are compounding factors – the removal of mangrove forests and some local volcanic activity – but the main problem appears to be rising sea levels. The highest point of the islands is 170cm above the sea..... this appears to be the first time that an entire people have started leaving their homes as a result of current global warming. Their numbers might be small, but this is the event that foreshadows the likely mass displacement of people from coastal cities and low-lying regions as a result of rising sea levels. The disaster has begun, but so far hardly anyone has noticed. "
This makes the discussion we had about local sustainability and carbon footprints at the eco-congregation network meeting last night seem all the more relevant and urgent. This is not a purely theoretical matter for the church heating needs renewing. If we are to take our care for creation seriously we should make the efficiency of what we choose to be the top priority. The church is in the centre of town and built on solid rock so the option of a ground source heat pump is not open to us. And if we choose the wrong heating system then this will make us responsible for more people from low lying places having to evacuate their homes.
On the home front the plumber has still not arrived to fix the non functioning toilet.
No comments:
Post a Comment