I hope this message finds each of you doing well! We were so privileged to have Pastor Álvaro Duran leading us in worship this past Sunday. I know his powerful message of love and inclusion resonated with so many of us, myself very much included! If you missed it, please do go back and watch, and also please consider sharing the video with your friends and family. I trust you will also be moved by the readings, prayers, music, liturgical art, and much more.

As we continue our series on faith beyond boundaries and borders, we welcome Rev. Dr. David Vasquez-Levy to CCSM this coming Sunday, February 27 for his sermon and for the Second Hour following worship. David is a gifted speaker with a dynamic message so relevant to our tumultuous times.

Several CCSM members have served on the Board of Trustees at PSR, including Julien Phillips, who was instrumental in recruiting David as PSR’s President several years ago. His sermon topic is “Wrestling in the Night: Epiphanies in a Time of Pandemic, Protest, and Polarization” and his topic for Second Hour is “Spiritually Rooted Leadership for a Time of Change.” You won’t want to miss him.

Sheryl 

Click HERE for Zoom link

Nearly all of the articles or books you might read about the climate crisis discuss the rising amount of greenhouse gas entering the atmosphere and the need to not only stop this increase but to bring it down to a livable amount. Climate scientists call this activity “Mitigation.” There is another side to the crisis, though. These are the actions people, communities, and national governments will increasingly need to take in order to survive the negative climate impacts that will become worse over time. Scientists call this activity “Adaptation.”

So, let’s take a look at the various adaptations these three groups—people, community, and government—can take to help manage the worsening climate problem. Starting with people, either individuals or family units, numerous actions can be taken. In order to adapt to the increasingly dangerous threat of wildfire, you can regularly clear brush and vegetation from around the outside of your house. You can wear an N95 mask when the air is smoky (AQI of 150+) from a nearby wildfire. You can also track wildfires spreading near your location. To preserve precious water during the more frequent droughts, you can remove grass lawns and plant drought-resistant gardens. You can also keep a survival kit in your car as well as store a solar-battery-powered radio at home to use for “public safety power shutoffs” by PG&E.

Looking at communities next, there are a host of collective actions that towns, small cities, and counties can employ. Communities can plant more trees on city streets, especially in low-income areas to lessen the heat-island effect. They can build cooling centers especially in low-income neighborhoods where residents without air conditioning can go to protect themselves against extreme heat. They can practice “assisted colonization” by moving plants and animals to new, less threatening habitats. Local authorities can improve natural disaster warning systems for people to escape flash floods, fires, etc. Additionally, local officials can pass laws to enable the installation of community solar microgrids to add electricity resilience.

Finally, national governments can play the biggest role in adaptation. They can build seawalls and levees to protect the built environment against storm surges and sea-level rise. Governments can get citizens out of harm’s way by buying out privately-owned homes located in flood-prone areas and ensuring that homeowner’s insurance disallows rebuilding in the same high-risk location. They can restore wetlands and mangroves to contain storm surge into populated areas. They can protect biodiversity and increase land-bridge connections for wild animals between ecosystems. They can also negotiate international treaties that address anticipated mass climate migration.

Our Lenten Worship Series begins on March 6: Finding Meaning in our Unlikely World, based on Sasha Sagan's book For Small Creatures Such As We: Rituals for Finding Meaning in our Unlikely World. Sasha Sagan is the daughter of Carl Sagan, and her book looks at the many ways humans celebrate and find meaning. You'll see more about it in the upcoming issue of the Pine Tree coming out this week!