Sacred Ground

When I visit National Parks today, I see places of divinity in peril, where catastrophic changes are happening at rapid-fire speed on a grand scale, where millions of years of evolution are being trifled with casually rather like an accidental splitting of atoms. I find myself wondering a lot lately when we will hear the irreversible boom, the moment we recognize our own death, the flash we see when we realize what we’ve done can’t be taken back. In short, America’s National Parks are facing cataclysmic change. Much of that change, which is occurring on an ecosystem level, is perpetrated by our rapidly changing climate. What’s unique about our changing climate today is that the speed of change has accelerated to a startling degree. During the retreating ice age of 20,000 to 10,000 years ago, temperatures soared about 9 degrees Fahrenheit in a ten thousand year stretch, exhibiting a seemingly rapid, yet natural shift in climate. By comparison, the climatic changes unfurling on earth now are happening about 30 times faster, leaving wildlife, plants, butterflies, krill and migrating birds scrambling to adjust. It is this very speed and ferocity of change that has scientists gravely concerned, for it is anything but natural. Though I am concerned about the changes happening in our natural world, the biggest losers in the climate change travesty that is unfolding all around us will likely be ourselves. Species that cannot adjust or evolve will be shaken off this planet like a cloud of irritating fleas so energy systems can rebalance, restoring harmony to God’s creation. Does that mean we are without hope? Although climate change is an insidious, overwhelming and seemly unconquerable problem, if you approach it from a spiritual perspective it then becomes the greatest opportunity ever presented to humanity. Consider it a divine test…one that requires us all to join together, to set our differences aside, to work across the normal lines that typically divide us such as race, socioeconomic levels, nationality, party affiliation, gender and religion. It will require us to dramatically alter our value systems, placing saving the planet and humanity above individual agendas and greed. Despite great odds, climate change presents a test I believe we can pass. It all comes down to hope and a fierce determination to succeed. Deciding that failure is not an option is one of the first attitudes we must embrace. Then we need to join hands, get busy and take decisive action NOW. We are the generation that can become the hope and light of the world, but our power is in the now and we must choose to act. So very much is at stake. That is why we must examine our role in this global catastrophe, for the wrongdoings we commit against nature are also becoming crimes against humanity, returning to us tenfold, circling around like a boomerang. If we don’t halt the direction we are headed with our carbon dioxide emissions, human suffering will be as immense as the rising seas, as disastrous as rivers of rain flooding our cities and as scorching as summer droughts withering crops desperately needed by hungry people. As it turns out, our changing climate is as much a social issue as an environmental problem impacting our parks. To understand these issues, I dove into topics such as fracking, ocean acidification, wildfires, tree migration and even the deadly hurricanes crashing our shores, all of which was quite unnerving. Researching forced me to consider the ramifications of our unchecked carbon dioxide emissions not only on humanity but on our most sacred pieces of ground on earth, our National Parks. In each story that I tell, I use the backdrop of a different park to explain the science of what is happening so the average American can grasp the complexity of our changing climate along with its damaging impacts to natural systems. These shared stories represent a tiny fraction of what is actually, quietly happening in our parks, unbeknownst to most visitors. Admittedly, climate change makes me fearful on many levels. Emotionally, it is devastating because I realize that places I love could be unrecognizable to my own eyes in years to come. From a human perspective, it is horrifying as it has the potential to unleash enormous suffering around the globe. Politically it is a nightmare because it requires value shifts from industries and the politicians who flagrantly support them. Our health and well-being need to take precedence over profit margins, which many companies seem to value above all else. Researching, coupled with my own joyous times spent outdoors, made me consider the true value of our parks, our wildest, most untrammeled places on earth. In doing so, I recognized that wilderness is not a lavish indulgence, it is a necessity for the human spirit. When walking through such sacrosanct places, smelling the tang of pine and sage, we leave behind wearisome thoughts and touch the edge of the Universe. America is unique in that our forefathers had the wisdom to set such places aside for the enjoyment of the people, so families could interact with and look in awe at landscapes that are sublimely beautiful to the soul. Now these very unique places are being placed in dire risk. Should we lament their loss or get busy creating positive change? Hope exists where there is action. When caring people come together to make a difference, anything is possible. Around the country, people of all backgrounds are joining hands to battle America’s rock and the hard place: Climate Change. There is no more worthy a cause to align yourself with and as everyone pitches in and sees change, we will then realize that action also creates hope. Saving sacred ground is worth the effort. It could be not only the greatest gift we give to our children, but, in the end, a blessing to all of humanity, for as it turns out, our fate and the fate of our natural spaces are closely intertwined.