Yesterday was Earth Day 53. This event was held on April 22nd, 1970. It was established to draw attention to our environmental problems and encourage serious human responses. It now has global participation from those who recognize how dire our situation has become. Earth Day commentators estimate that there are more than a billion people participating annually from 190 nations.
It’s not surprising. There are many books, articles, TV reports, TV shows, and online sources that show a range of serious problems. These include climate change (which causes burning forests, rising sea level, increasing storms, etc.).Degraded water quality, pollution of the atmosphere, landscape degradation, loss and extinction of biodiversity, and degrading of the environment are some examples. These problems, together with the growing world population of humans who are causing them all, are already causing poverty and hunger.
Things are rapidly getting worse in terms of global warming, which is largely due the impact of fossilfuels. The last several years have seen the world’s average temperature rise by about 5%. Experts have stated that it is only a matter of time before it becomes too late to make environmental changes. Our planet is becoming more hostile.
What is the next step? First, we must expose and reject corporate-sponsored disinformation. This claims that this crisis is not caused by fossil fuels. There is overwhelming evidence to support the claim that these fuels are the reason. We need legislation that encourages the use of alternative energy sources, such as gas and oil.
We must demand that we take steps to reduce climate change. We must also make public efforts to stop wildlife destruction, damage wild areas, and protect clean water sources.
Even though most people don’t realize it, education must be developed that encourages deeper understanding of our relationship with and impact on the natural world. A discussion on The Environmental Crisis is available online at Everything Connects; Why Nature Matters. It discusses the inner and spiritual transformations that humanity must make to end the increasing damage to the earth.
One of the greatest illusions in the universe, which is responsible for most of the destruction we see today, it that we are independent from. . . All other life on Earth thinks we are superior than nature. The truth is that we are part nature. . . . It can be hard to remember or understand that we are totally connected to nature, as we live in concrete jungles that mask the Earth. . . . We have evolved tremendously as leaders in the biosphere, but our lives are being distorted by living in disharmony with the very foundation that makes them possible.
Or, as I have stated, when addressing groups about environmental matters, we need make nature a partof our spiritual experience. This will allow us to see our connection with, and be incredibly grateful for, the incredible natural world. So that what we do supports, rather than damages it all. This was the core of my first adult education series, The Ecological Conscience: Perspectives about Humanitys Relationship with Nature, which I presented in western Illinois communities in 1975.
Soon afterward, I established and taught a WIU English Department course about American Nature Writing. It featured many authors who felt a sense of connection to the natural environment was central to their spiritual lives. I also wrote about Illinois authors like Virginia Eifert, Donald Culross Peattie, and Baker Brownell.
Modern books emphasize the importance nature has for our spiritual lives. Thomas Berry (1988), a cultural historian, says that the natural world is the larger spiritual community to which all of us belong. He also calls for the integration of science, religion, and art to create a New Story that would open up our hearts to the sacred deeps of nature rather than prompt us to exploit them in any way we can.
Two other books of this type that I recommend to readers are The Soul of Nature (1996), edited and published by Michael Tobias, Georgianne Cowan, as well as Spirit of the Environment (1998), edited and published by Joya Palmer and David E. Cooper.
If we want to prevent the destruction of the world we are so closely connected to, it is becoming increasingly clear that human-nature interactions must have a deeper spiritual and life-enhancing dimension. This means that universities and colleges must focus more on the natural environment than biology courses. Communities need to develop nature appreciation activities. Religions around the globe need to expand their understanding of our deep connection to the amazing, mysterious natural world.
John Hallwas, a speaker and writer, is a columnist at the McDonough County Voice.
