The fact that our climate is changing is still often treated with indifference and in some cases, curious denial but we cannot avoid seeing that the developed nations consume more and burn more fossil fuel than all the poor nations combined. However, making the matter worse, India and China have almost equaled the CO2 emission rates of the states! We are all responsible for global warming when we buy products that are not fair-trade and damage the environment.  

Human consumption and production activities pump six gigaton of CO2 into the environment a year but the planet can only absorb 3 gigaton a year. A gigaton is one billion metric tons. One billion metric tons is what one cubic kilometer (one billion cubic meters) of water weighs. It is hard to wrap the imagination around the figures!

As Catholics we are called to remember that climate is a common good that must be protected for the benefit of all people and sustained for future generations. Many thousands of people suffer as a result of the conditions of climate change. Water shortage, crop failure and loss of food security are all issues, which are in some way linked to climate change. Since it is by the way we cultivate the earth and care for it, that we reveal and live out the truth that we are created in the image and likeness of God, we need to examine and reassess our stewardship of the earth. Let us begin on a personal level.