What do I tell the children about global warming?

[Sister_Rebecca]

Help! I am teaching ecology to middle school students in a Christian school, and I don’t know what to do about global warming. There are too many “opinions” out there for me to sort out. How can I present climate change and pollution in a way that is truthful and encourages stewardship of the earth without giving into media hype. Is it media hype? Or is it truth?
Thank you.

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Hi,

You don’t have to get into the whole global warming thing to encourage stewardship of the earth. Just look at the harm that smog can do to vegetation—not to mention our lungs. Clean water is another item that needs to be addressed as well as clean sources of power such as wind and the sun. Saint Francis can teach us that the world matters because it belongs to God. It is God who makes creation valuable. Without Him, it fast becomes centered on us and a matter of self interest. When it becomes politicised, as it has, confusion follows and people don’t know who to believe. Our secular society seems to me more concerned with the earth than the human life that is was created to sustain. I wouldn’t even bring global warming up. This is what the Holy Father has said on the subject:

dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=501316&in_page_id=1811&ito=1490

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.