When I was younger, I remember attending Bible School in the summer. I don't know whether all churches had something similar for kids to do, but for as long as I can remember, we sang a song, "...He's got the whole world in his hands". That song took on a much different meaning for me recently when thinking about what we appear to be facing regarding the environmental.

You may be wondering why it seems as if I've never heard about the concerns about the environment before now.

It's not that I wasn't aware of concerns or didn't pay attention. OK, maybe I didn't pay attention. At least, not as good as I could have done. I also admit that I didn't understand the extent of the impact of all these choices and changes until viewing the documentary I noted earlier - "An Inconvenient Truth". I felt as if I'd been "sucker-punched" while listening to and watching examples of the impacts on our world from pollution, the environment changes, etc. I learned a lot. More importantly, I wish I'd learned before now. My solace is that it's not yet too late to make changes.

Not long ago, the Earth was "alive" with more species of animals than exist now. Most of us probably remember studying in school about the dinosaur and the attached word, "extinct". As part of the environmental studies, there is also the need to protect many animal species because now the changes are happening too quickly for some animals to adapt and they are in danger of dying out completely (*for more information on this, please follow the link provided).

Animals are part of the balance of nature although you don't really hear about them when people talk about the environment, at least, not in today's focus on "going green". However, they are important because humans have impacted the animal world and that "progress" has created problems there, too. National Geographic's Strange Days On Planet Earth notes that many scientists are beginning to question our "gain" of humans moving in to areas previously inhabited by predatory animals. Predators, it turns out, serve an important function in the web of life. Please take time to visit their informative site. You will note a link to Why Others Care (or you can go there from here) which provides information that includes: “The man-eating predator in the jungles of history and the Mind paints a grim picture of our future if we continue business as usual: By the year 2150, zoos and test tubes will likely be the only places that Bengal tigers and all other man-eating predators will survive . . . My guess, a regretfully gloomy one, is that the last, wild, viable, free-ranging populations of big flesheaters will disappear sometime around the middle of next century . . . That's not far off — less than eight human generations.”

I find that frightening. You too? There are websites which allow you to advocate for animals and the environment. You can easily - and quickly - send letters to your representatives in Washington, DC to tell them your views on these issues. Please check them out & maybe add them to your "favorites" list in your browser. A few of the ones that I check regularly include:

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Last modified: 11/24/07