Rev. Anne Bancroft| York Ready for Climate Action

I hear about climate change all the time. We all do, right? We hear about how our human behavior is affecting the planet, and how our oceans are warming, and different parts of the world are experiencing extreme weather patterns that will continue and likely worsen, depending on our actions.

Living in Maine, we often read about the Gulf of Maine, so essential to all of us in some way. Apparently, it is warming faster than most large bodies of water. "In about the 40 years or so that we've had satellite data, (temperatures in the Gulf of Maine)are the warmest that we've seen, and that follows the second-warmest summer on record, and so it's part of a longer-term pattern of increasing warmth in this region, said Dave Reidmiller, director of the Climate Center at the Gulf of Maine Research Institutein Portland. This was said in an interview held while looking out over Casco Bay. "What we're seeing here in the Gulf of Maine is a microcosm of what's going on globally."

Its unsettling to read about, and disturbing; and, honestly, I cant say I really understand it all. Im not a scientist. Too much detail goes over my head, or maybe I just dont have the patience to try to make sense of it. After all, how different are a few degrees one way or the other? Actually, there is an answer to that.

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Recently, my sister-in-law mentioned that she thinks of global warming in terms of our own bodies, where a few degrees of temperature change actually make a big difference, one that we can feel almost immediately. If we think of Earth as struggling with higher temperatures in the same way we struggle with the high body temperatures that often accompany flu or infection, then the whole issue feels more personal and tangible. Suddenly the idea of deforestation that robs the earth of its cooling trees simply to feed our human avarice, or the overabundance of human-caused greenhouse gases that overwhelm Earths capacity to sustain its healthy systems reminds me of how my body feels at the onslaught of unwanted viruses or bacteria.

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They say the hardest part of changing something like old patterns or bad habits - is recognizing the need to change. If I understand little else but that the Earth, and so many of her creatures, is suffering from humanitys disregard in the same way my body suffers when it is not cared for adequately, then I must learn what I can do to be a healer. For me, understanding every element of the science is secondary to the need for compassion, for the Earth itself, for all the living things it sustains, and for the humans who, I hope, will be here long after I am gone.

Can you remember what having a fever feels like? Can you remember the chills, the aches, and the fatigue that go along with body temperatures one, or two, or three degrees above normal? We wouldnt wish that on anybody else. We certainly wouldnt wish it on the planet as a whole. We can do better.

Join us at York Ready for Climate Action.

Rev. Bancroft volunteers with York Ready for Climate Action. YRCA is a grassroots citizens organization dedicated to increasing awareness of the causes and effects of climate change and advancing environmentally friendly and inclusive policies and behaviors. Please see yorkreadyforclimateaction.org or info@yorkreadyforclimateaction.org. Information about EcoHOMES is on the same site.

Read the rest here:
Getting Ready: We can do better in taking care of our home - Seacoastonline.com