Bio-diversity loss<\/strong> \u2013 the loss of creatures like flying insects and bees \u2013 and the loss of whole species was the first breakdown. Insects provide food for many other species\u2026\u201dif you take away the foundation, the whole thing will come tumbling down,\u201d said Bookless. \u201cBy reducing bio-diversity we are effectively cutting off the branch that we sit on.\u201d<\/p>\n The second crisis, rising global temperatures<\/strong> \u2013 often expressed in freak weather \u2013 have direct and indirect effects on human populations and crop yields. \u201cThe people who have done least to cause the problems are the most likely to be affected,\u201d said Bookless. \u201dForget make poverty history, climate change is making poverty permanent.\u201d He quoted a Christian climate scientist, Dr Katharine Hayhoe:<\/p>\n Tackling poverty, disease, war, injustice, economic inequality, natural disasters, biodiversity loss without tackling climate change\u2026.is like trying to mop up a flood with a bucket full of holes. Climate change exacerbates all the other problems.<\/em><\/p>\n Human population growth combined with the rate of western consumption<\/strong> is the third area of concern \u201cIf everyone lived like the average westerner, we would need 3+ planets before everyone in the world could live as we do.\u201d Bookless pointed to a huge issue of consumption injustice \u2013 the world\u2019s richest 20% of people consume sixteen times more than the poorest 20%.<\/p>\n Water Stress<\/strong> was the fourth issue. As resources deplete, rainfall lessens and the glaciers melt, this century\u2019s wars are more likely to be about water than anything else.<\/p>\n General resource depletion<\/strong> was the final section in Bookless\u2019s apocalyptic ecological scenario. As the population increases, as less food is planted and\/or wasted, as fertilizer consumption increases and crops are destroyed by extreme weather events, as more meat is consumed in the West and fish stocks decrease while air travel gets exponentially cheaper, humanity\u2019s impact on the planet becomes ever greater. Bookless\u2019s next question was already echoing around the minds of the audience, \u201cIs it too late to save Planet Earth?\u201d And just as important for this audience, \u201cShould we try to?\u201d<\/p>\n With a truly \u2018adventist\u2019 conclusion, Bookless\u2019s account ended with the renewal, repair, and restoration of the planet and its people in a \u2018new heavens and a new earth\u2019, liberating creation from \u2018its bondage to decay\u2019 \u2013 a truly ecological climax for a creator God.<\/p>\n So \u2013 how can we be good caretakers of planet earth in the meantime? Bookless gave a variety of examples of how his own organisation A Rocha<\/em> is caring for the planet \u2013 details can be found on their website www.arocha.org\/en<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Q&A \u2013 as usual, was one of the most interesting parts of the evening. Discussion ranged from the creation\/evolution debate, individual vs governmental responsibility and the extent of the difference one person can make, especially when democratic governments are elected on the basis of short-term political promises. Ecological change may be less popular but needs long-term policies. Practical tips for individuals included buying less than perfect fruit and vegetables, using the least polluting means of travel available, growing your own food, avoiding the use of plastic, and eating less meat \u2013 preferably a vegetarian or vegan diet. Nobody could say the audience went home without hope or a strategy to help care for God\u2019s creation.<\/p>\n A recording of the full lecture can be heard on the Newbold College of Higher Education\u2019s Facebook page<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"saving](\"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/sitenews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/images_news-2019_saving_planet_earth1.jpg\")
<\/a>With supporting data throughout, the first section of his lecture explored five ecological crises described in last month\u2019s report from the Institute of Public Policy Research.<\/p>\n<\/a>Bookless\u2019s answer was an unequivocal \u2018yes\u2019. He described how some Christians have been uninterested in ecological matters saying things like, \u2018saving souls not saving seals is what matters\u2019 or \u2018care for the poor not the porcupines\u2019, or, \u2018God will destroy the earth \u2013 so why should we care?\u2019 Others have argued that this world is not our home or that lower species are here for the use of humans, who are higher in the hierarchy of nature. Bookless argued that these ideas all ignore the Biblical teaching that God both created and loved \u2018the world i.e. the cosmos\u2019 not just humanity and that if Jesus Christ is to be Lord at all, then Jesus Christ must be Lord of all. \u2018All\u2019 includes not only global ecology but also Business, Politics, Arts, Culture, Sports, Poverty and Medicine. Arguing from the story of Noah, Bookless pointed out that God saved only eight human beings but animals of all kinds, clean and unclean, and that God\u2019s covenant was not only with Noah but also with \u2018his descendants and every living thing-\u2019 with the whole of the earth.<\/p>\n<\/a>With Biblical references from Jewish and Christian scriptures, Bookless suggested that the earth is the Lord\u2019s \u2013 it is not \u2018owned\u2019 by human beings. In the Jewish scriptures, there were frequent reminders of the importance of caring for creation \u2018so that creation can worship God by doing what God created it to do.\u2019 When relationships are broken between God, humanity and the earth, when human beings assert their supremacy and put their needs first, the land is described as \u2018suffering\u2019, \u2018groaning\u2019, \u2018mourning\u2019 and \u2018vomiting\u2019. The land is a spiritual barometer and ecological restoration follows spiritual reformation. In the New Testament, the relationship of Christ to the whole Creation is described in Colossians 1<\/a> as Source, Sustainer and Saviour.<\/p>\n
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