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A choppy relationship with nature

Hong Kong and Macau were hit by two typhoons within five days towards the end of August. Mid-week, Typhoon Hato struck during the early hours of the morning of August 23 closing down the two cities for most of the day and leaving a trail of damage as it went.
 
In both places there were injuries, but in Macau 10 people died leaving residents in deep shock and angry at officials for failing to make proper preparations for the storm.
 







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Eco-danger

MANILA (UCAN): If people could be removed from The Philippines its natural environment would become a much more friendly place, as for several years now it has been the deadliest country in Asia and one of the most dangerous in the world for those who work to defend the land against human destruction.
 
A report titled Defenders of the Earth, released on July 14 by the London-based Global Witness, notes that at least 28 pro-environment advocates were killed in The Philippines during 2016.
 
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Science trumped by political fiction

HONG KONG (SE): Fake news is an art form, but while the expression may be new, the reality is far from a modern creation. It has travelled under various labels for centuries.

In 1906, Winston Churchill spoke of political inexactitudes in the parliament, a euphemism for circumlocution—or in plain language, a lie.
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Waste Not and Turn Green

HONG KONG (SE): A low carbon producing lifestyle and an attitude of cherishing natural resources are the two keys to solving Hong Kong’s waste problem, while the government proposal to impose waste disposal charges appears to be only an economic incentive to reduce waste.
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The Year of the Smog

HONG KONG (UCAN): Northern and northeastern China welcomed 2017 as the Year of the Smog, experiencing heavy pollution in 61 cities. However, this is not a surprising event, as it is in keeping with the predictions of a study by the World Health Organisation that shows China home to the deadliest outdoor air pollution in the world.

The China Meteorological Administration issued an orange alert prior to New Year’s Eve, which deteriorated into a red alert on January 4.
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Across the board religious concern for creation

July 2016 was the hottest month since records began in 1880. Jos Lelieveld, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute, has warned that large areas of the planet could become so hot that they would be virtually uninhabitable for humans.

This would trigger an exodus of hundreds of millions of refugees. Lelieveld maintains, “The July temperatures must underline the urgency of the crisis.”







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Good and bad news on plant species

I made my first visit to Kew Gardens in London in the early 1980s. It is a beautiful and highly scientific place and in May this year, it produced an extraordinarily important report on The State of the World’s Plants.

The good news is that the staff now believe that there are 390,000 species of plants on earth. The director of science at Kew Gardens, Kathy Willis, spoke to Damian Carrington of The Guardian about the importance of plants for humans.







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Getting Church out of fossil fuels

MANILA (SE): Father John Leydon, the co-convener of the Global Catholic Climate Movement and its local representative in The Philippines, made an appeal to Church organisations to divest themselves of their investments in the mining and fossil fuel industry.

“These divestments are an important step toward fulfilling the promise and the call of Laudato Si’ (Praise Be: On care for our common home),” Father Leydon said.
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A chilling reminder things are hotting up

The El Niño is causing damage to the Great Barrier Reef off Australia’s northern east coast in a manner that was predicted by Pope Francis in his encyclical, Praise Be: On care for our common home (Laudato Si’).







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An evolving value system

HONG KONG (UCAN): Increasing numbers of young people in Hong Kong are taking the road less travelled and shunning well-paid jobs in favour of low-paying careers in fields that work to protect and nourish the health of the environment, often much to the chagrin of their traditionally-minded parents.

It is not an easy road to follow, but they defend their choice saying that it helps to make the city more independent and pleasant to live in.
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