Creation Book Corner 17 July 2014

Claire's Creation Book Corner17 July 2014

Do I sound like an overheated Brit? I feel like one. We're having a very warm summer. You may disagree with mainstream scientific opinion about the causes of climate change, but you can't disagree that it's happening. That's clear for all to see in the Arctic.


People in Greenland, Alaska, Northern Canada, Siberia and far Northern Europe are all reporting big changes in their local environments due to the warming of the planet. There's no land on the very top of the world. Animals that live there rely on the thick sea ice. Polar bears travel long distances across the ice to hunt out food for their young.


Unfortunately there's been overall decrease in the amount of ice cover since 1978. People who live in the Arctic region report that more polar bears are coming into their towns and villages, taking their food and putting lives at risk.


Another animal that's suffering is the walrus. These enormous lumbering beasts have started gathering on land, and crushing each other to death in terrible stampedes because there isn't enough sea ice.


The change in climate is affecting people too. It's becoming more dangerous for indigenous people to hunt out on the ice. The warmer temperatures mean that it isn't as stable as it used to be. Houses are also suffering from subsidence as the ground melts underneath them.


It's a shame that in some powerful countries like the United States, climate change has become such a political topic. Political tensions stop people from recognising that regardless of what's caused climate change, the places most affected by it need our help. That's why many people are campaigning for the Arctic seas to be made into a wildlife sanctuary. If this happens it means that animals there will have the chance to adapt to their new environment without humans making it worse for them.


As it is, now that there is less ice than there used to be, big businesses are making plans to exploit the Arctic. They want to send to send container ships through its waters and drill for oil in the seabed. It will be impossible for them to do that without making the Arctic dirty with oil, fuel residues, sewage and trash. The Arctic seabed is a unique environment and the small other worldly creatures that live on it evolved to survive extreme cold, in isolation from those on seabeds in other parts of the world. They are extremely sensitive to pollution from human activities.


It'd be a shame to lose beautiful creatures such as the polar bear, the walrus and their unusual looking seafloor friends. It will happen if we let money and the accumulation of riches matter more than the protection of the Arctic. Can you and your church community do something to support the call for an Arctic sanctuary?

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