Pollution, however, is about more than individual behaviour. Worldwide, there are many more serious issues transpiring. The world’s resources - which the human race has come to depend on for essentials like water, food, air and energy – are limited. Some are in danger of running out, while others have been so badly damaged by the world’s industrial society that their very existence is threatened. A shocking example must be that the great rainforests of the world are disappearing at a rate of about 100 acres a minute, meaning that if this was permitted to continue over the next fifty years the forest would be completely wiped out. This is dire news for numerous reasons, but particularly as these forests provide oxygen through photosynthesis and are immensely rich in animal life, both of which are of importance to the planet.
Global warming is an additional big drawback facing the environment. The 400 million cars in the world today are the cause of the choking smog that covers so many of our cities; their emissions contain lead and cause the build up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. If the present rate of emission continues, concentrations with have doubled within 60 years. This could trigger the destruction of the ozone layer, which shields the Earth from the harmful effects of the Sun’s ultra-violet rays. If this happens it could cause a ‘hot house’ effect, increasing temperatures by two or three degrees, enough to melt the Artic and the Antarctic ice caps, raising sea levels and flooding all low-lying areas.
Another way to show humanity’s bad effect on the Earth is the amount of radioactive waste that is very hard to dispose of, produced by the Nuclear Power Industries all over the globe. Some of it will stay radioactive for years, whereas other less radioactive waste is dumped at sea. All of it has to be transported, and future generations will have to deal with it. Human error and incompetence concerning this issue has already caused big problems: the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in 1985 released a radioactive cloud over northern Europe and has left much of the area surrounding the power plant uninhabitable.
It can be seen, therefore, that despite Christian teachings on humanity’s responsibility for the planet, the world is facing huge problems. However, Christianity teaches many important lessons on this topic, all of which must be considered. To begin with, a way in which Christians have acted towards the preservation of the earth in the past is when, on 29th September 1986, Christian leaders joined leaders from the other five major world religions at the 25th anniversary of the World Wide Fund for Nature in Assisi to declare their promise for conservation. Assisi was chosen for this major event in honour of St Francis who lived there in the 13th century. He is sometimes referred to as the ‘Green’ saint for his preaching on conservation and for his love of all creatures whom he described as his ‘brothers and sisters’. A priest in Assisi at the time said:-
‘Through the workings of his spirit, Christ’s tree extends its roots to the whole cosmos… Only the sinful failure to abide in God’s love and to live according to his wisdom can blind men and women to the harmonious beauty of all God’s creatures…’
(Father Serrini)
Christians believe that God made the world and put people in charge it, telling them they must be stewards of the earth. In this was, human beings are given a special responsibility within creation: to control it, cultivate it and guard it, and to basically be good stewards. A steward is someone who carefully looks after something that is not theirs, and they look after it to the best of their ability for its real owner.
Some have interpreted the creation story as giving people the right to exploit the environment. Most Christians would disagree with this, as in the bible God gives specific instructions about what people would now regard as responsible environmental stewardship, for example:-
‘For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.’
(Exodus 23:10-11)
Many Christians believe that, even if they were not directly told to look after the earth by God, they would still want to do it because it is the Christian thing to do. It would be helping others, both in the present and the future, and also it would be showing selflessness.