“Try to leave the Earth a better place than when you arrived.” – Sidney Sheldon, TV ProducerWhat a catastrophe! Harvey pummeled Texas and Louisiana with 27 trillion gallons of …
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“Try to leave the Earth a better place than when you arrived.”
– Sidney Sheldon, TV Producer
What a catastrophe! Harvey pummeled Texas and Louisiana with 27 trillion gallons of water. Even at 757,500 gallons per second, Niagara Falls will need 13 months to match this downpour. The 52 inches of rainfall assaulting Houston is more than the Bush International Airport receives in a year.
The National Weather Service states, “This event is unprecedented.”
The human cost includes 50 deaths. One million people were displaced. About 200,000 homes were damaged, and Texas Governor Abbott says relief efforts could cost $180 billion. The New York Times reports, “Only 40 percent of [homeowners] may be covered by insurance.” Forbes estimates 500,000 cars are “waterlogged.”
Houston’s one-in-a-thousand year storm follows one-in-five-hundred year storms in 2015 and 2016. So do coastal communities just accept this as the new normal?
Let’s hope not. Actually, we can prevent storms from becoming increasingly destructive. Even if you don’t believe in climate change, hear me out.
Or better, listen to the science reporting of Britain’s preeminent newspaper, The Guardian. Their article, “It’s a Fact: Climate Change made Hurricane Harvey More Deadly,” cites four major reasons for this conclusion.
First, air moisture is measurable: Climate change adds “3 to 5 percent more moisture in the atmosphere.” The Environmental Protection Agency states this increased water vapor “creates a positive ‘feedback loop’ in which warming leads to more warming.” This added moisture contributed to the extreme rainfall.
Second, due to a recently increased sea level, “the storm surge was half a foot higher.” This added surge substantially increased damages.
Third, “Human-caused warming is penetrating down into the ocean.” This produces, The Guardian continues, “stronger winds, more wind damage and a larger storm surge.”
Fourth, climate change impacts weather patterns. Harvey’s devastating rainfall amassed because it stalled near the coast. The weak prevailing winds, The Guardian concludes, were caused by “a greatly expanded subtropical high pressure system over much of the U.S….predicted in model simulations of human-caused climate change.”
Bangladesh serves as a worse warning: A third of the country is under water. Their floods impact 41 million residents.
While humans cannot change the day-to-day weather, our Industrial Revolution continues to have a long-term impact on climate: Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas heating the planet, never exceeded 280 parts per million in 650,000 years. Now, it is an alarming 400 ppm – and rising rapidly.
Likewise, methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, has doubled since 1800. This worries scientists because increased thawing of Arctic permafrost substantially increases methane’s release into the atmosphere.
The Judeo-Christian biblical tradition calls for Earth care. Catholic theologian Rosemary Radford Reuther cites Psalm 65:9-13 as evidence that, “God is seen as taking profound pleasure in his work of creation, and creation in turn responds to God with praise.”
A powerful environmental practice is described in Exodus 23: Fields were to lie unplanted every seven years to enrich the soil. The leftover harvest fed the hungry.
When Israel failed to care for the land, the Prophet Isaiah warned, “The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants, for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenants” (Isaiah 24:5).
We are called to care for the earth as stewards, not owners. As Psalm 24:1 declares, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” Apparently, this includes our wallets.
So what can we do?
First, let’s care for the environment in both our personal practices and our advocacy for public policy.
Second, let’s share the seriousness of climate change with family, friends and colleagues.
Third, let’s pray for the many victims of Harvey. If interested in donating, The New York Times lists ten reputable local organizations in their excellent online article, “Where to Donate to Harvey Victims.”
Rev. Harry Rix has 60 articles on spirituality and ethics, stunning photos, and 1200 quotations for reflection available at www.quoflections.org.
10 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
Justanidiot
Its god's will. Remember what Texas looks like when people talk about how we behind in getting companies to relocate here.
Why? Because they overbuilt to substandard codes and only cared about the bottom line and frig the future and anyone who wants to preserve anything.
We have been forewarned.
Thursday, September 7, 2017 Report this
RISchadenfreude
What is a "substandard code"? Building standards are uniform and must meet national as well as State standards; buildings were flooded but did not collapse due to "substandard codes".
What exactly does "Texas look like"? Have you ever been there, or do you just assume that the entire affected region is cattle, tumbleweeds and oil derricks, like most folks who have seldom left RI?
Was it "God's will" when NY & NJ were pummeled by Sandy five years ago?
Drainage systems are being improved in Houston continuously; there was no way to predict Harvey's deluge.
Houston is in a subtropical (high precipitation) region; RI is not.
If you want to discuss poor planning, look at the Providence Hurricane Barrier- it may save the City, to the detriment of the rest of RI's coastal communities (that's you, Warwick!); all that high water and storm surge pushed up the bay is going somewhere (your homes and streets).
I suppose Irma hitting Florida will be "God's will", too, unless YOU happen to like Florida.
"Justanidiot"...true to your moniker...I guess you "forewarned" us before we read your stupid comment.
Friday, September 8, 2017 Report this
davebarry109
Even most climate warming die hards don't blame the hurricanes on climate change. The two largest hurricanes happened a long time ago.
Friday, September 8, 2017 Report this
RISchadenfreude
Two UN Climate Change alarmists (Christiana Figueres, the Executive Secretary of UNFCCC and Ottmar Edenhofer) have admitted that "Global Cooling / Global Warming / Climate Change / Extreme Climate / (insert next self-serving name here) are about wealth redistribution and the destruction of capitalism and the US economy. Al Gore one of the biggest Hypocrites of the movement, has made a fortune peddling this nonsense.
http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/climate-change-scare-tool-to-destroy-capitalism/
http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/another-climate-alarmist-admits-real-motive-behind-warming-scare/
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/08/busted-al-gores-energy-consumption-skyrocketed-past-decade/
Friday, September 8, 2017 Report this
Justanidiot
irma and jose are going to be the one two punch that takes out Mar-A-Lago and Rush Limbaugh.
Friday, September 8, 2017 Report this
RISchadenfreude
Idiot,
I don't see any refutation there, just ranting.
C'mon back when you have something intelligent to share with the class.
Friday, September 8, 2017 Report this
Justanidiot
eyes leave da smarty pants stuff to the taxprayers mayer
Monday, September 11, 2017 Report this
HerbTokerman
Flood insurance is mostly a joke anyway.
Warwick has lots of split-level houses built on a slab foundation where half of a home's living space is slightly below ground level.
Flood insurance covers nothing that is below ground level, even if it's one foot.
So in reality you'd need to get 10-20 feet of floodwaters before flood insurance would kick in, to fix half of your house.
Tuesday, September 12, 2017 Report this
RISchadenfreude
Herb,
I didn't need another reason to hate Raised Ranches.
Moral of the story: Due diligence.
Friday, September 15, 2017 Report this
Justanidiot
do what?
Friday, September 15, 2017 Report this