Environmental Challenges
March 20, 2023: A liveable future for all is possible, if we take urgent climate action: flagship UN report
July 16, 2021: Summer of extremes: floods, heat and fire
https://public.wmo.int/en/media/news/summer-of-extremes-floods-heat-and-fire
June 4, 2021: UN launches Decade on Ecosystem Restoration to counter ‘triple environmental emergency’
March 30, 2021: Pope Francis: Human selfishness is creating millions of climate change refugees
Whether people admit it or not, climate change and environmental destruction are forcing millions from their homes, and Catholics have a responsibility to assist them, Pope Francis wrote in the preface to a new document.
March 25, 2021: Direct Observations Confirm That Humans Are Throwing Earth's Energy Budget off Balance
A NASA study has confirmed with direct evidence that human activities are changing Earth's energy budget, trapping much more energy from the Sun than is escaping back into space.
January 21, 2021: Microplastics are toxic to fetal development—a reminder that the environment is a pro-life issue, too.
Scientists have, for the first time, discovered microplastics in human placentas—creating a kind of “Plasticenta,” as the title of the article puts it. The particles were identified as the residue of “paints, coatings, adhesives, plasters, polymers and cosmetics and personal care products.” A total of 12 particles were found in four placentas, out of six donated to Italian scientists.
May 6th, 2019 UN Report: Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’; Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’.
The first ever intergovernmental Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services finds that around 1,000,000 species are threatened with extinction and that ‘transformative changes’ are needed to restore and protect nature. “Ecosystems, species, wild populations, local varieties and breeds of domesticated plants and animals are shrinking, deteriorating or vanishing. The essential, interconnected web of life on Earth is getting smaller and increasingly frayed. This loss is a direct result of human activity and constitutes a direct threat to human well-being in all regions of the world.” Prof. Josef Settele, Report co-chair.
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-report/
October 8th, 2018: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C.
“Every extra bit of warming matters, especially since warming of 1.5ºC or higher increases the risk associated with long-lasting or irreversible changes, such as the loss of some ecosystems.” Hans-Otto Pörtner, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group II.
The report finds that limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require “rapid and far-reaching” transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities. Global net human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide would need to fall around 45 percent below 2010 levels by 2030, reaching ‘net zero’ around 2050.
October 8th, 2018: 1.5 degrees celsius: a physical, moral and theological threshold
Commentary on the significance of the IPCC Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5°C by Fr. Joshtrom Kureethadam, the Coordinator of the Ecology and Creation Sector in the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.