Eco Blog - St. George's Berlin

A goal of this blog is to highlight reliable information about the environment. Yale University has offers a report on " Global metrics for the environment: Ranking country performance on sustainability issues " that includes country by country rankings. In a section called "About the EPI" [Environmental Performance Index] the authors explains the basis for the ranking:  "The 2020 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) provides a data-driven summary of the state of sustainability around the world. Using 32 performance indicators across 11 issue categories, the EPI ranks 180 countries on environmental health and ecosystem vitality. These indicators provide a gauge at a national scale of how close countries are to established environmental policy targets." ( SOURCE ) One of the features of the EPI is a " Living Atlas " that shows scores by country. The United Kingdom is ranked number 4 in this report, France 5, Germany 10, and the United States 24. 

 The planet is in hot water. The Guardian has published an article called "Climate crisis: record ocean heat in 2020 supercharged extreme weather" that makes the point that the oceans have reached their hottest level in recorded history, with consequences for rainfall and the rise of sea levels. Here is a LINK to the article.

  This comes to us from  Monica Mueller-Roemer and is used with permission.

 One of the significant problems facing the planet is the degree to which cities are sinking and water levels are rising. See this article from the Guardian (31 December 2020) ( LINK ).  As a  parish we have been helping people in African communities to get safe and fresh drinking water. This is important, but equally important is to help communities that are drawing so much water from the ground that their land sinks. At the same the melting glaciers threatens costal cities in developed and developing countries.  If we can give money for a well, might we not as Christians commit ourselves to  lifestyle changes that could help millions around the planet? Even very small steps matter. One less car trip. One fewer airplane trip. One day less per week for eating meat. It all adds up and helps us to make a difference.