We are in the fifth week of the Season of Creation. Last week the theme was “Ditch the Plastic”; this week the theme is “Educate yourself on climate change and then start talking about it.”
Climate change fundamentally starts with science. And you’d be best served by getting climate change science from: need I say climate scientists! I suggest you start with these scientific resources on the topic of climate change:
- From the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): climate.nasa.gov
- The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): epa.gov/climatechange-science
A few months ago, I had the pleasure of serving on a committee along with astrophysicist and NASA’s former head of the Space Science Education and Public Outreach program, Phil Sakomoto. Phil now serves as Director of Sustainability Studies at Notre Dame. As part of our work for the Laudato Si conference, Phil did this amazing video on climate change which you will find at tinyurl.com/sakomoto-talk.
And of course, just a couple of weeks ago, the Saint Francis of Assisi ministry hosted renowned Seattle meteorologist, Jeff Renner, for an excellent presentation on climate change that we recorded. You can watch at tinyurl.com/jeff-renner-soc-res. Jeff also recommended a number of resources on furthering your climate change education at that link.
And Jonathan Foley of Project Drawdown recorded an excellent six-part video series, Climate Change 101 which you can watch at drawdown.org/climate-solutions-101.
Once you have educated yourself on climate change, it’s time to start talking about it with family, friends and co-workers. This past Spring, Suzanna and I took Climate Reality Project’s leadership training course and they shared these tips on talking with others about climate change: tinyurl.com/lsia-talk-tips. Above all, be nice and start by listening.
Finally, don’t forget to talk to your leaders about climate change. When you are ready, you can use this “talk to your leaders cheat sheet” I’ve assembled: tinyurl.com/contact-your-leaders.
Working together, we can help take care of our common home.
Paul Litwin
Saint Francis of Assisi at St John the Evangelist 