EarthBeat

Dealing with the climate crisis will require developing renewable forms of energy such as solar and wind power, decreasing greenhouse gases and creating more sustainable lifestyles. It also requires a change of heart.

Climate change and economic hardships are not only making life difficult for ordinary citizens in Malawi, but also they are posing challenges to the church, as humanitarian and Catholic agencies step up interventions.

As other sectors, such as transportation and energy, discuss winding down their dependence on oil, the fossil fuel industry is banking on plastics in clothing as a growing revenue stream over the next 20 years. The moral call to divest includes our closets.

As the Parliament of the World's Religions convenes in Chicago this week, Ugandan youth climate activist Vanessa Nakate says: "What message do I expect from the delegates at the Parliament? One word: justice."

At a Sunday Mass at a church in Kapalua, Hawaii, the Most Rev. Clarence "Larry" Silva, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Honolulu, appealed to somber parishioners not to abandon their faith. "If we are angry with God we should tell him so. He can take it," he said in his sermon, adding later that "God loves us in tragedies and good times and bad times."

Diverting funds from mission and ministry outreach to building upgrades makes for difficult conversations. But by 2018, St. Martin's had reduced its carbon footprint by about 60%, its annual natural gas bill by 50% and grid electricity bills by 75%, with overall energy costs reduced by nearly 20%. With the switch to an all-electric HVAC system and the 2021 installation of the last solar array on the roof of the Sunday school classroom building, St. Martin's achieved net-zero carbon. 

Maui County officials confirmed late Aug. 9 that at least 36 people have died and dozens more were injured; by the evening of Aug. 10, the death toll had risen to at least 53, according to Hawaii Gov. Josh Green. About 11,000 others have evacuated as wildfires burned the historic town of Lahaina "to the ground," as numerous news outlets reported. More than 271 structures were damaged or destroyed.

Despite its prominence, Lake Victoria has turned into an eyesore. It is currently a sink for human, agricultural and industrial waste, leading to mass aquatic deaths, algae and the spread of hyacinth, a ferocious waterweed.