Our earth has certain characteristics:
•
It arose some 3.5 billion years ago;
•
7.3 billion people, inhabit it;
•
71 percent of its surface is covered with water;
•
Its remaining 29 percent is land with mountains, deserts, plains, and plateaus,
and over the year because of its axial tilt there is variation of sunlight
reaching every part which causes seasonal changes.
John Lubbock (1834–1913),
an English banker and philanthropist wrote, “Earth and sky, woods and fields,
lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and
teach some of us more than we can learn from books.” People learn that the future of the earth is
tied to the sun. Over billions of years
99 percent of all species that ever lived have become extinct on earth. And today there exist over 200 sovereign
states with which America has diplomatic ties and trade. American journalists travel to these
countries – some torn by political strife, and they report about them to
worldwide audiences via the ubiquitous media networks.
Gift of Earth
There are concerns how long the planet earth will continue to
sustain life. Estimates range from 500
million to 2.3 billion years, for earth’s future is closely tied to that of the
sun. Evo Morales (b. 1959), president of
Bolivia said, “Sooner or later, we will have to recognise that the Earth has
rights, too, to live without pollution.
What mankind must know is that human beings cannot live without Mother
Earth, but the planet can live without humans.”
But entrepreneurs continue to obtain large deposits of fossil fuels like
coal, petroleum, and natural gasses from the earth’s crust. They are concerned about how long these will
last - and while doing so nations’ industries, air-crafts, and other motorized
apparatuses are polluting the environment.
Scientists make linkages of environmental pollutants with extreme
weather – cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions,
blizzards, floods, tsunamis, droughts, and wildfires.
Jimmy Dean (1928–2010),
a TV host and businessman said, “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but
I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” Are citizens able to adjust their sails to
the needs of their 7.3 billion inhabitants increasing geometrically each
year? It’s true that wind is a great
blessing beginning with our first breath of life, to early civilizations with
wind powered sailing ships, and modern air-crafts, windmills as power supply,
for dispersing seeds in farming.
Gift of Water
Through evaporation and transpiration there’s precipitation
of our lands. Although this water is a
great gift, some one billion people still lack access to safe drinking
water. More than 2.5 billion people suffer
from a lack of adequate sanitation.
Margaret Atwood (b. 1939), a Canadian poet, novelist, and environmental
activist wrote, “Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you
feel is a caress. Water is not a solid
wall, it will not stop you. But water
always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against
it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away stone. Remember that, my child. Remember you are half water. It you can’t go through an obstacle, go
around it. Water does.” Undoubtedly scientists must continue to build
dams, and construct wells, to bring pure drinking water to the drought-stricken
villages of Africa, Asia, and Latin America that lack this vital resource. Many indigenous villagers’ survival depends
on such efforts.
Gift of Fire
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