Care of our
Common Home
There is a nobility in the duty to care for creation through little daily actions, and it is wonderful how education can bring about real changes in lifestyle.”
Pope Francis – Laudato Si 211
Jesuits for Climate Justice - Jesuit European Social Centre
Have a look at this webpage link
for some interesting information
Trees and land absorbed almost no CO2 last year.
Is nature’s carbon sink failing?
Patrick Greenfield from The Guardian reported in his article on 14th October 2024, that the sudden collapse of carbon sinks was not factored into climate models – and could rapidly accelerate global heating.
In 2023, the hottest year ever recorded, preliminary findings by an international team of researchers show the amount of carbon absorbed by land has temporarily collapsed. The final result was that forest, plants and soil – as a net category – absorbed almost no carbon.
There are warning signs at sea, too. Greenland’s glaciers and Arctic ice sheets are melting faster than expected, which is disrupting the Gulf Stream ocean current and slows the rate at which oceans absorb carbon. For the algae-eating zooplankton, melting sea ice is exposing them to more sunlight – a shift scientists say could keep them in the depths for longer, disrupting the vertical migration that stores carbon on the ocean floor.
“We’re seeing cracks in the resilience of the Earth’s systems. We’re seeing massive cracks on land – terrestrial ecosystems are losing their carbon store and carbon uptake capacity, but the oceans are also showing signs of instability,” Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, told an event at New York Climate Week in September.
In recent years, several estimates have been published on how the world could increase the amount of carbon that its forests and natural ecosystems absorb. But many researchers say the real challenge is protecting the carbon sinks and stores we already have by halting deforestation, cutting emissions and ensuring they are as healthy as possible.
“We shouldn’t rely on natural forests to do the job. We really, really have to tackle the big issue: fossil fuel emissions across all sectors,” says Prof Pierre Friedlingstein of Exeter University, who oversees the annual Global Carbon Budget calculations.
“We can’t just assume that we have forests and the forest will remove some CO2, because it’s not going to work in the long term.”
Read Patrick’s full article on:
Please click the Season of Creation link below and have a look at all the information there.
There are videos and downloads to help you celebration the Season of Creation.
2024 Small Island Developing States
The fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) was held from 27th to 30th May 2024. The theme was “Charting the course toward resilient prosperity". The Conference aimed to assess the ability of SIDS to achieve sustainable development, including the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals.
Attached are some links which you may find interesting.
Mercy Global Action Launches
'Mercy Water Justice Coalition'
on World Water Day 2024
The aim of this Coalition is to identify 'Mercy Water Leaders' in all regions of the Mercy World.
Mercy Water Leaders will be individuals (over the age of 18 or represented by someone over 18) who have an identified interest in water issues and are motivated to work alongside the MGA team to create and implement a 'Water Action Agenda' within their Mercy community – whether it be a school, university, congregation, ministry, or other organisation.
Through their Water Action Agenda, they will commit to several actions which seek to raise awareness of the multiple values of water and advocate for a rights-based approach to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 6: 'Clean Water & Sanitation'.
Check out the Coalition Guide below to see some of the possible commitments.
https://www.mercyworld.org/f/45074/x/229ad93c0a/mercy-water-justice-coalition.pdf
Follow the action on TV or read the papers. Global Day of Action on December 9th.
Tell your TD/MP you want to see nature prioritized at the next election.
Seasonal Information
Month of October
Tulips and Daffodils look attractive in Spring but they are not a good food source for pollinators. In October, consider planting them with some other bulbs that are pollinator-friendly!
Muscari, Snowdrop or Crocus
Extract from Laudate Deum - Pope Francis
2 - Eight years passed since I published the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si.. I have realised that our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be near the breaking point. In addition to this possibility, it is indubitable that the impact of climate change will increasingly prejudice the lives and families of many persons. We will feel its effects in the areas of healthcare, sources of employment, access to resources, housing, forced migrations, etc.
9 - As usual, it would seem that everything is the fault of the poor. Yet the reality is that a low richer percentage of the planet contaminates more that the poorest 50% of the total world population, and that per capita emissions of the richer countries are much greater than those of the poorer ones. How can we forget that Africa, home to more than half of the worlds poorest people, is responsible for a minimal portion of historic emissions.
Join our Webinars
Every quarter, Sr Sheila and Sr Nellie provide us with valuable information in the form of a 'Webinar'.
Why not accept an invitation to one of these and gain some valuable information provided by them.
Webinars
Below is a list of a few things Sisters are doing - can you pick one and challenge yourself to try it for a month!!
- Turn off appliances not in use
- Grow some lettuce or a herb
- Reduce food waste
- Conserve water
- Plant a flower
Sisters Monthly Challenge
Seasonal Information
Month of September
Keep harvesting crops. If you have a glut of fruit and veg try freezing, drying, pickling, and storing so that you can benefit from them later on.
Glor na Mara
In 2006 the Sisters of Mercy put down the roots of Glór na Mara in Bundoran on the wild Atlantic edge initiating an ecology project in response to the call to widen our circle of compassion to include the natural world in all its splendour, discovering the riches of the oneness of the inner and outer spiritual soul journey.
The practical aspect of this initiative has been to transform a small corner of land into an organic community garden and allotments run by the local people. A large number of local people have worked here and together, they have achieved a lot, transforming the land at Glór Na Mara into an incredibly abundant space. They provide local restaurants with mixed leaf salad bags and also receive their own weekly share of nutritious organic vegetables.
Realising that our wellbeing and health is inextricably linked to our planet’s ecological health, and aware of the massive loss of various species in the natural world, from the beginning we believed passionately in promoting biodiversity for the health of the whole community of life. Biodiversity underpins the processes that make life possible. Here the meadow, wildflowers, plants, hedges and shrubs all provide safe harbour and sustenance for lots of wildlife. A bee and butterfly garden where has nectar-producing flowers and shrubs are there for bees and adult butterflies to forage.
Glór na Mara has a two-strand approach to service delivery:
1. Ecology education and awareness raising
2.The practical engagement in organic growing, either as a community gardener or as a renter of an allotment
The Project occupies a two-acre site and provides
a) A community garden and 33 allotments
b) Outreach work to the local primary and secondary school and to many visiting groups within in the county and further afield.
In the early months of 2021 twenty-four community gardeners attended a nine-month organic growing course which involved growing their own produce. In addition to learning seed-sowing and many other gardening skills, participants valued the social interaction afforded them by the group activity. Also, in spite of the pandemic 34 families were able to manage their allotments throughout the year.
Perhaps because of the Coronavirus, there has been a surge in interest in the Project especially among young people and a 10-week gardening course was piloted online this year. There were 150 participants and Glór na Mara hopes to repeat an online course due to interest and clear demand.
Did you know?
Did you know you can reduce your carbon footprint simply by deleting unwanted emails.
They don't just take up space on your own computer.
Every single email in every single inbox in the world is stored on servers which take up huge amount of energy.
