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.

The New York Times published an article today (28 December 2020) that describes viewing the earth from satellites. The title is "Watching Earth Burn: for 10 days in September, satellites in orbit sent tragic evidence of climate change is destructive power." Here is a link  https://www.nytimes.com/ . The images give a visual confirmation of what we have all read about the fires in Australia, the fires in California, and the destruction of forests in Brazil. While the satellite pictures are horrifying,  the article also sees some hope.  " Actually, our response to the pandemic already suggests the way forward.. Faced with an existential crisis of the scale not seen in living memory, we deploy the planets best minds, funded them well and turn them loose on the problem. " What exactly can we do to help? An important first step is recognizing the scale of the problem, and supporting those who are working to combat it. Watching these images of the Earth quit...

  The Church of England is actively committed to promoting "care for God's creation through their worship, buildings, land, community engagement, and individual lifestyles." Here is a LINK to the full official statement on the website. St. George's Anglican / Episcopal church in Berlin has made the same commitment. One of the purposes of this blog is to offer parish members a source of current information about environmental matters.  Our  Preußenallee  building  is under "Denkmalschutz", which protects the original architectural design. While this is an advantage, it also limits what we can do to the physical plant. The Eco Church committee will look at how to make the building and grounds more ecologically friendly, but we should also remember that there is much we can do in our private lives to act in ecologically responsible ways.  --Michael

  Sermon by Christopher Jage-Bowler from 28 June