My bumper sticker says, “If you love the Creator, take care of Creation”. How is it going for Earth’s non-human creatures? A central message in Genesis one is the fruitfulness of Creation. Is Creation’s fruitfulness being compromised and degraded? Remember pastor Jim’s recent message on Genesis one and its fruitfulness?
Let’s begin by considering a few questions. As steward or caretaker of God’s Creation, how much do humans have the right to use for their personal consumption? How much Creation in its wild form must be left to assure Creation’s fruitfulness? Can humans and the non-human Creation co-exist without degrading the non-human Creation’s fruitfulness and biodiversity? Perhaps we should begin by considering the state of Creation today with the associated question – how is the steward doing? Is all well, or are there signs of trouble?
The state of the Earth’s creation today: Let’s begin with a few measurable observations. When we look at Washington state, we find less than one tenth of one percent of old growth forest remains at low elevations west of the Cascade Mountains. How has that affected the many species dependent on old Growth forests? The prairies of Whidbey Island once covered over 8,000 acres. Today, the largest unplowed prairie remnant is about 4 acres located at Pacific Rim Institute. This remnant is serving as a critical refugia for PRI’s on-going prairie restoration. Another observation — 96 percent of current global terrestrial mammalian biomass consists of humans and their domestic animals, with elephants, rhinos, hippos, deer, elk, bear, and all other mammalian species making up the other 4%. When we look at the atmosphere, we find that carbon dioxide has risen from 280 ppm to over 420 ppm in the last 150 years. It had been stable with minor variation during the previous 800,000+ years. During this same time, the level of atmospheric methane has doubled. What is the source of this atmospheric change? In the case of carbon dioxide, carbon isotope signature analysis provides the answer: fossil fuel combustion accounts for over 90% of the increase.
How is your hope meter reading these days? What has been suggested and what is being done? Edward O. Wilson, one of the most honored scientists of the past century suggests in his book Half Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life that 50% of the planet’s surface must be protected to save the biosphere (where living creatures exist). Is that reasonable and possible? When I was born, the human population was approximately 2.3 billion. Today it is over 8 billion. The 2022 United Nations UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) reached the landmark agreement that by 2030, at least 30% of the planet’s land and water will receive protection. It is not Wilson’s 50%, but even 30% will be a considerable challenge. For comparison, approximately 13% of the land area of the United States is permanently protected and managed for biodiversity, and three percent of the world’s oceans have received complete protection.
These statistics sound daunting and perhaps discouraging. But I am a glass-half-full person, and I see hope for the future. None of us can personally solve these global problems, but that is not our task. We live in God’s Kingdom today, doing what we can. Each day is filled with many choices. Our task is to choose wisely, and Creation will smile in response as we care for Creation in our own back yard.
A suggestion: don’t throw plant-based table scraps in the trash. Compost them along with your lawn/garden waste to provide soil for your plants/garden. When they enter a land fill and decompose in the absence of oxygen, methane is produced and enters the atmosphere.
Thanks for listening,
— Joe Sheldon
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